“The State Government during talks with the teacher leaders at different times was averse to the idea of continuance of the Grant-in-Aid (GIA) Policy 1994 on the ground that it would cost the State exchequer Rs 20,000 crore. But we said thousands of aggrieved teachers have moved court seeking GIA and a handful of them have won at the Supreme Court. We want the Government to count the service of the employees since their date of appointment and keep all service conditions to regularise the job in lieu of not demanding the arrear. But we asked the Government, supposing all employees win the cases and the Government is asked to regularise their job, apart from paying all their arrears, the financial burden could be over Rs 1 lakh crore. So why is the Government not accepting the option we have givenij” said Golak Nayak, a frontline leader of the United Forum of Schools and Colleges.
Nayak’s option is clear and could wriggle the State Government out of the impasse created due to the stir of the Block Grant teachers demanding regularisation of jobs. Though the teachers under Block Grant have been on agitation for over a decade, paralyzing the education in thousands of schools and colleges across the State and there have been attempts by the State Government to end the plight of the teachers, it seems the problem is gigantic, given the financial dimension to meet the salary and arrear requirements. This is the reason why the State Government has only made piecemeal solutions in past and as a result of that it has given salary in the mode of Block Grant since 2009 at various rates. But such measures have hardly pacified the teachers and rather made the issue messier. The question is how long will the stalemate continueij Considering the fact that the election time is approaching fast and the CM now on a please-all drive, he would not like to disappoint a vast section of teachers working at the grassroots level by ignoring their demand. The bureaucrats too are at a loss and don’t have any magic wand either, as the State coffer can ill-afford to the demand of the teachers. On the contrary, by regularly deceiving the teachers’ community, the BJD Government, which is the architect of the Block Grant system, has suffered face loss. Needless to say, the credibility of the Government vis-à-vis teachers and the millions reading in the Block Grant schools and colleges is at stake. Even as the teachers’ dharana has reached its second day with the united forum threatening to intensify the agitation and lock the institution, Higher Education Minister Anata Das fumbled for answers to the contentious issue of Block Grant.
Das’ answer looked evasive as he said the Government was conscious of the problem and was finding a way out and appealed the teachers to go back and resume teaching. It means the Government is still not prepared on the issue of GIA.
However, what prevents the Government to extend the GIA 1994 phase wise and on basis of seniority. For example the 1994 GIA policy covers schools/colleges up to 1990 (those who had got their permission, affiliation and recognition). Now, the same policy could be extended, say for example to cover institutions for another 10 years till 2000 or a few years less or more depending on the financial strength. And, for rest, there could be fixation of a timeframe by which they would be automatically entitled to the GIA fold.