Govt decides to do away with block grant system

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday announced the state government’s decision to abolish the block grant system and replace it with grant-in-aid.
During a meeting with the block grant lecturers and teachers, the chief minister requested them to withdrew their strike and join duty.

“The system will be effective from January 1, 2018. This will benefit 28,848 teachers working in 2,608 high schools. It will also be applicable for 39,497 employees of 4,373 schools under school and mass education department and 18,738 lecturers of 1,499 colleges under higher education department,” school and mass education minister Badri Narayan Patra said.
Under the grant-in-aid system, the teachers are entitled to basic pay, grade pay and increments, he added.
Following the announcement, the teachers and lecturers called off the 17-day-old strike. They, however, demanded introduction of service condition for them within two months.
The agitating teachers had earlier threatened to observe Teachers’ Day as black day if the government failed to fulfil their demands.