Teachers resort to begging and shoe polish to press demand

Bhubaneswar, Nov 15 (UNI) Teachers of unaided colleges in Orissa today resorted to begging and shoe polishing on the streets of the capital city demanding government grant to their colleges.

Thousands of teachers from 630 colleges who have launched an indefinite agitation since yesterday before the Assembly in support of their demand chose the novel way of protesting to draw the government's attention.

While women teachers were seen begging from the passers by, the male teachers approached people passing through the M G Road for shoe polishing.

State non-aided teachers and employees coordination samitee, spearheading the agitation, announced that the money collected from begging and shoe polishing would be donated to the Chief Minister's relief fund as a token of protest.

Samitee Chief Convener Golak Nayak alleged that the state government had not taken any initiative to provide grant-in-aid to 630 colleges in the state established since 1990, even though the teachers have resorted to several agitational measures during the past two years.

He said the government has constituted a sub-committee to look into the problems of the unaided college teachers which has not bothered to resolve the issue and instead making misleading statements to discourage the agitating teachers.

Mr Nayak said teaching in all the 630 unaided colleges in Orissa has been paralysed as the teachers had boycotted the classes and decided to continue their agitation till the demand was fulfilled.

When contacted State Higher Education Minister Samir Dey said the matter has been referred to a five-member Cabinet Sub-Committee headed by Industry and Law Minister B B Harichandan which would submit its proposal to the Cabinet for approval.

Mr Dey said the government was very sympathetic to the problems of the unaided college teachers and disapproved the agitational method adopted by the teachers when the matter was under active consideration of the Cabinet Sub-Committee.

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