Bhubaneswar, Sep 5: Hundreds of teachers and employees of unaided schools and colleges in Odisha observed Teachers’ Day by staging a protest at Mahatma Gandhi Marg in Bhubaneswar on Saturday, demanding Grant-in-Aid (GIA) benefits, pension facilities and resolution of their long-pending demands.

The agitation, organised under the banner of the Odisha School College Teachers’ and Employees’ Coordination Committee (OSCTECC), entered its 21st day. The protesters continued their round-the-clock sit-in even as Teachers’ Day was celebrated across the country.

The teachers said they had been compelled to join the agitation after repeated representations to the government allegedly failed to yield results. A major demand of the committee is inclusion of 194 high schools under the GIA system or provision of financial assistance on par with similarly placed aided institutions.

OSCTECC representative Subash Chandra Dash said teachers had been serving students for years but remained deprived of benefits available to aided-school employees. The committee is also seeking pension benefits for eligible teachers and employees, filling of vacant posts and an increase in the retirement age from 60 to 62 years.

The protesters alleged discrimination between teachers working in aided and unaided institutions and urged the state government to intervene. Woman teacher Surma Patel also appealed to the government to consider their demands and resolve the issue at the earliest.

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