Schoolteachers In Odisha Warn Of ‘Indefinite’ Stir Over Job Regularisation

Bhubaneswar: Teachers of higher secondary schools in Odisha staged a dharna outside School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Das’ residence in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.

According to sources, the members of the NPS Secondary School Teachers Association are protesting against contractual rules for recruitment by the government. The teachers have termed the contractual recruitment rules as unfair and biased.

“The government abolished the contractual agreement of teachers who have joined since 2016 and forgot about the ones who have been working hard since 2004. The 2022 contractual rule repeal is not universally applicable to all and discriminates between seniors and juniors,” an agitator Pradipta Kumar Pradhan told the media.

Also Read: Odisha Govt Abolishes Contractual Recruitment, Regularises Present Contract Staff

Holding banners and staging a sit-in protest, they are demanded regularisation of jobs for more than 16,000 teachers, who come under the contractual agreement rules of 2013. The teachers also threatened to stop taking classes, keep the upcoming matric examination on hold and continue the dharna till their demands are met.

It is pertinent to mention here that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced the abolishment of the contractual system of employment and regularised the services of its present contractual employees on October 15.

Following this, the General Administration and Public Grievance Department issued a notification on October 16 to scrap the system and make provisions for regularising over 57,000 contractual employees.

Also Read: Contractual Recruitment Abolished In Odisha: Govt Issues Notification, See Details