Block Grant Teachers Refuse To Budge, Continue Agitation In Rain

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Bhubaneswar: Braving rain and inclement weather conditions, thousands of block grant teachers continued their agitation on Thursday after holding a three-day protest (September 17 to 19) at the panchayat level.

“Our agitation entered 36^th day today. We strongly condemn the callousness of the state government towards the teaching community. However, we have pledged to continue our protest till the government fulfils our demands including removal of affidavit clause in the newly-announced grant-in-aid system, equal salary for equal work, provision of full aid and service conditions. The people should also be aware about our plight,” said convener of Odisha School-College Teachers and Employees’ Forum Golak Nayak.

As a part of the three-day protest at panchayat level, motorcycle rallies and padyatras were organised in different villages across the state to sensitise the students, parents and intellectuals about the government’s apathy towards the teachers’ community, Nayak added.

The agitators had celebrated Ganesh Puja and Nuakhai on the streets of Mahatma Gandhi Marg here on September 13 and 14 respectively.

Earlier this month, the block grant teachers had also staged protests in all the 314 blocks of the state.

A number of students and their parents had on September 7 opposed the block grant teachers’ means of protest of locking up nearly 500 schools across Odisha.