The Block Grant (BG) school and college teachers and other staffs, who have been holding dharna at PMG Square here for the last six days, on Monday said they would hold a Mahasamavesh (grand rally) on Tuesday for fulfilment of their demands, the main being abolition of the Block Grant system.
One of the leaders, Golak Nayak, said,” We have braved heavy rains and torrid heat and BG teachers to hold Mahasamavesh today are holding our dharna for the last six days. We will organise a Mahasamavesh tomorrow for fulfilment of our demands. More than 60,000 teachers and former teachers and others are expected to attend the Mahasamavesh. We will continue our strike till our demands are met.”
Nayak said leaders of different parties including the ruling BJD and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan have come here and extended their support to the teachers. “But we do not have any affiliation to any political party. We want our legitimate demands to be met. The Chief Minister has returned from Delhi after winning the Best Administrator award, which he is celebrating. We also want him to fulfil our demands so that we can celebrate too,” Nayak added.
Meanwhile, the teachers’ strike has affected students’ studies in thousands of schools across the State. The students are a worried lot because of the oncoming examinations in September. Their helpless parents are contemplating to get them admitted to other schools so that their studies are not hampered. However, the teachers have blamed the State Government for the students’ problems, saying the Government has been dillydallying over their demands for years, for which finding no other way out they had to take to the streets.