Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Abhibhabak Mahasangha, a parents’ association in the state led by President Basudev Bhatta, on Friday launched an indefinite hunger strike to press for immediate action regarding key educational reforms.
According to sources, the primary trigger for the protest is the state government’s failure to withdraw flawed textbooks for classes 1 through 8, a promise previously made by Chief Minister Mohan Majhi that remains unfulfilled, leaving incorrect learning material in the hands of young students across Odisha.
Furthermore, the association is demanding the extension of the 25 per cent Right to Education (RTE) quota for underprivileged students through Class 12 and higher education, arguing that such an extension is mandatory under Paragraph 8.4 of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Pointing out the contradiction between the Chief Minister’s recent announcement that NEP 2020 has been fully implemented along with free KG-to-PG education and the ongoing lack of extended RTE benefits, the Mahasangha has called upon parents and educational activists state-wide to unite and join the hunger strike to secure their rights.
Last month, the association had urged the Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA) to review its recently issued guidelines for the constitution of School Management Committees (SMCs), objecting to the fixed inclusion of Anganwadi Workers, ASHA Karmis and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) as members. Citing the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, and the Ministry of Education’s SMC guidelines, which state that 75 per cent of committee members should be parents or guardians, with at least half of them being women, it alleged that the present guidelines diluted its parent-led character of SMCs by giving fixed status only to Anganwadi Workers, ASHAs and ANMs.
