Teachers threaten to agitate in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, Jun 16 (UNI) More than four hundred additional section teachers of Orissa today threatened to resort to agitation if their demand to approve and regularise their posts was not fulfilled by the government.

Orissa Additional Section Teacher's Association secretary Tribikram Behera said the teachers resolved to agitate as their repeated request to the government did not yield any result so far.

The government, Mr Behera said, also ignored the Orissa State Administrative Tribunal order in 2003 and Orissa High Court order in 2005 which went in their favour.

The Association Secretary regretted that instead of compiling with the court order, the state government appealed against the judgement in Supreme Court. He appealed to withdraw the case and regularise the posts of teachers.

He said in 1994 the government took over 2,929 private high schools but did not regularise the service of around 1200 additional section teachers.

As per the government rule one more teacher can be appointed after the strength of a section exceeds 55 students.

After much pressure the government regularised the services of 652 teachers in two phases.

Meanwhile, some teachers had already left their job, some others died and some managed to get their jobs regularised by filing individual cases in the court.

But till today around more than 400 teachers appointed in between August 92 and December 93 had not been regularised yet.

United Teachers Association president Bikram Kesari Verma supported the demand of the teachers and urged the Chief Minister and School and Mass Education Minister to resolve the issue at the earliest.

UNI BD KK SP RK1701