13,000 Odisha junior teachers protest in Bhubaneswar, seek regularisation

Bhubaneswar, September 17: Around 13,000 junior teachers working in government schools staged a demonstration at Mahatma Gandhi Marg in Bhubaneswar on Thursday, demanding regularisation of their jobs and an end to the contractual appointment system.

Carrying banners and posters and raising slogans, the teachers urged the Odisha government to take immediate steps to implement the regularisation process.

The protesters said the government had earlier agreed to their demand and the School and Mass Education Department issued a notification on April 2 to implement the process. However, they said the benefit has remained stalled because of ongoing litigation.

According to a protesting teacher, the Orissa High Court stayed the regularisation process on April 14 and sought an affidavit from the state government explaining the criteria prescribed for regularisation.

The teachers claimed that five months after the court's direction, the government had not yet filed its response, resulting in continued uncertainty over their employment status.

"We have been serving under irregular conditions for years. The government issued notifications, but they remain confined to paper while our families struggle," a protesting teacher said.

The demonstrators demanded that the government urgently respond to the High Court and take steps to have the stay vacated so that the regularisation process can proceed.

They also warned of intensifying their agitation if their demands were not addressed.

with inputs from PTI