Bhubaneswar: The Odisha unit of BJP has targeted the state government on notification for appointment of 20,000 school teachers on contract basis.
Speaking to media persons on Monday, BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal said as many as 21,209 regular teachers retired from service during 2019-23. But the Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA) has issued the notification on Sunday for appointment of 20,000 junior teachers (schematic) in primary and upper primary schools on contract basis. Why the government is not filling up the vacant regular teacher posts with fresh appointment, he asked.
Stating that the government was not serious about the condition of trained and unemployed teachers, he said the Orissa High Court had stated that the government was shedding crocodile tears for the teachers.
In 2006, the Supreme Court had also said the Central and state governments are ideal employers and should not make appointment on contractual and outsourcing basis. But the Odisha government remains unaffected by the statements of the courts.
He further said while the state government has claimed that there was no dearth of funds and tabled surplus budget, what was the problem in spending money towards appointment of regular teachers.
Coming down on the government’s 5T initiative, the BJD leader said thousands of crore of rupees had been wasted towards this move. “The government has stated in the Assembly that Rs 3,410 crore was spent towards transformation of schools under 5T initiative. It has been found the works carried out for transformation of schools are of poor quality. Besides the works have been executed without floating tenders. It is a big scam on the plea of strengthening the infrastructure of schools and colleges,” he added.
Claiming that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was unaware of the notification on teachers’ appointment, Biswal demanded its immediate withdrawal.
