Bhubaneswar, Feb 10: Thousands of school teachers of State affiliated to various associations Tuesday threatened to intensify their agitation for fulfillment of demands from April if they have not been met end of March.
The teachers took out a massive rally from Master Canteen square in their bid to gherao the residence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
However, police blocked their march at Shishu Bhawan Chhak, barely a kilometer away from Naveen Niwas.
The teachers then held a meeting where their leaders spoke about the apathy of the State government towards their plight.
While Block Grant teachers, Odisha Secondary School Teachers’ Association (OSSTA), ALSTA, Odisha Retired Teachers’ Association, Madrasa Teachers’ Association, Sanskrit Teachers’ Association are part of the rally, School Teachers’ Federation of Odisha (STFO) and Contractual Teachers’ Association are supporting it.
The leaders said government has been giving them ‘false’ assurances on every occasion.
“Committees after committees are being formed and meeting after meeting held. But there has so been no concrete action from the government side to redress our grievances,” they told the gathering
“Besides, they used force on teachers when they demonstrated against this injustice. Many of them were arrested too. We are not going to back down. We have the support of various teacher groups. This agitation will continue till our demands are met,” he added.
The rally was, however, peaceful.
