Nearly 1 Lakh Primary Teachers protest at Lower PMG, Bhubaneswar

TNI Bureau: Earlier in the day, members of various organizations gathered in the Lower PMG district of the Capital City to demand that their “long-standing” requests be met. According to reports, a protest was held here by hundreds of members of the Anganvadi, United Primary Teachers Maha Sangh, and Odisha Amla Sangh, who raised slogans in support of their demands.

The demonstrators attempted to march on the Assembly, which is currently in session, but were stopped by several battalions of troops stationed on MG Road. The protesters said that despite numerous previous protests, the State Government had not complied with their demands.

Nearly, 1 lakh 36 thousand teachers continue to stage the demonstration against the administration to meet their demands. Which include, payment of dues, regularization of employment and benefits, such as accident compensation, pensions, and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

Meanwhile, the Primary Teacher’s Association has called on the government to treat the six-year duration of employment as a teaching assistant as a regular appointment and to provide raises in accordance with that.

Similar to the first demand, their second is that they be paid a wage that is equal to the central scales, and their third is that the previous pension policy be implemented rather than the new one.

These teachers were hired as teaching assistants in the state in 2001, although their first pay was barely Rs. 1500 per month.

These teaching assistants received the status of a regular teacher after six years. Additionally, despite having the same qualifications as high school teachers, primary teachers have voiced complaints about being paid less.

These teachers have argued that it is significant injustice that while high school teachers’ appointments are regularised from the date of their initial appointments, primary teachers’ six-year periods as teaching assistants are not.