Odisha Minister Appeals To Contractual Teachers To End Agitation For Job Regularisation

Bhubaneswar: With contractual high school teachers staging a protest in Bhubaneswar demanding job regularisation, Odisha’s School and Mass Education (SME) Minister Samir Ranjan Dash on Monday appealed to them to end their stir.

Stating that the demand of the contractual teachers is being discussed at the level of the chief secretary, the Minister said three rounds of meetings have already been held on the issue.

“A decision on the issue will be taken soon. I request the agitating teachers to wait patiently till the government’s decision comes,” Dash said.

Thousands of teachers working in high schools on contractual basis have been staging sit-in protest at Lower PMG Square in the state capital since Saturdayseeking regularisaion of their job.

The agitating contractual teachers  have accused the state government of going back on its promise.

They claimed that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced through a notification on October 15, 2022, that contractual services will be abolished in the state, but it was violated by the School and Mass Education department.

They alleged that the services of teachers appointed between  2016 and 2022 have not been regularised while the state government has regularised the services of contractual staff in other departments.

Nearly 18,000 contractual high school teachers  have been died of their rights, they lamented and warned of intensifying  their agitation if their demands are not met soon.