Bhubaneswar: In an unusual show of protest, unemployed BEd qualified students staged a dharna kneeling down and holding their ears on road in the city to draw the attention of the state government on Friday.
Raising slogans against the government’s indifference to their plight for the last 7 years, they asked chief minister Naveen Patnaik whether he was happy to see them kneel down to beg for employment.
They said though they hold BEd certificate since 2014 and have passed the Odisha Secondary School Teacher Eligibility Test (OSSTET), they were yet to be appointed as teachers.
The agitating students said the government made recruitment of BEd students in Arts and Science streams in 2019, but those of Sanskrit, PT and Hindi are yet to be given appointment.
They further said after their repeated and prolonged agitations, in January, the government assured them of starting the process for their employment within 4 months.
As no step was taken in April, they again resorted to protest and the authorities told them that the advertisement for their appointment will be issued in 15 days. But no step has been taken in this regard so far, they added.
Deploring the government’s apathetic attitude towards their condition even as 10,000 teacher posts were lying vacant, the agitators demanded written assurance from the minister concerned, failing which they threatened to intensify their agitation.
