The agitating Block Grant (BG) lecturers of the 488 and 622 Category Colleges on Monday decided to continue their strike as the meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee headed by Finance Minister Pradip Amat yielded no results.
The Government has sought time till February 25 to find a solution to the teachers’ demands, said 662 Category College lecturers’ Association secretary Gagan Behera.
“We will not budge from our strike decision. They (Ministers) appealed to us to resume our duties, but we candidly intimated our decision to them. We will join examination duties startingTuesday by wearing black badges,” said Behera.
“It was a step forward, but the meeting today was not successful. The Government discussed various matters, but there was no decision on any of the issues,” added Behera.
“Discussions and arguments were held on abolition of the Block Grant system. However, in the absence of the Chief Secretary, the Finance Secretary and the Development Commissioner no decisions could be arrived at. The Government has sought time till February 25, and we will continue our stir till then,” informed Behera.
He also informed that the teachers would boycott upcoming Plus II examinations.
Meanwhile, the 488 Category Block Grant lecturers’ body announced to boycott the Plus III examinations starting Tuesday.
Notably, a five-member inter-Ministerial Committee, headed by Finance Minister Pradip Amat, has been formed by the Chief Minister to look into the demands of the Block Grant lecturers. law Minister Arun Sahoo, Technical Education Minister Sanjay Dasburma, Higher Education Minister Pradeep Kumar Panigrahy and Energy Minister Pranab Prakash Das are the other members of the panel.
* Sanskrit Colleges set to join BG teachers’ protest P3