Over 50,000 schools crippled in Odisha as 1.30 lakh govt tea

Over 50,000 government schools in Odisha are currently operating with an ongoing teacher strike. For more than a week, the teachers have been protesting the reinstatement of the previous pension plan and the elimination of the contractual appointment system. A total of 1.30 lakh teachers are on strike. The teachers have resisted ending their protest despite the government's requests. The strike began on September 8.

The contractual appointment system must be abolished, according to the protesting teachers.

Additionally, they want the grade pay to be raised.

They are also urging the revival of the previous pension plan.

One of the teachers on strike told news agency PTI, "Since the government failed to address the demands of aggrieved teachers, they went on mass leave and staged protests before the offices of block education officers (BEOs)."

According to Odisha TV, the state administration has formed a five-person subcommittee to examine the requests of the teachers who are protesting. The inter-ministerial panel will receive the committee's findings, after which the government will decide how to proceed with the teachers' demands.

A teacher who was protesting claimed that the government had formed a subcommittee rather than responding to their demands. When he learned that an inter-ministerial panel had already been established, he questioned the need for the subcommittee. Additionally, he claimed that the subcommittee was established "only to delay the process".

The Odisha administration has come under fire over the matter from both the BJP and the Congress. Anil Biswal, a BJP spokesperson, claimed that the state administration had not addressed the complaints of the teachers who were in protest. He criticized the state administration for spending Rs 500 crore on a secretary's chopper flight while failing to pay teachers a living wage.

State Congress president Sarat Pattanayaks said, "The education system in Odisha is facing an 'emergency' like situation, and the government is not taking appropriate measures to resolve their issues."

Arabinda Dhali, an MLA for the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), declared that the state administration would unquestionably consider the protesting teachers' sincere demands.