Teachers to protest today for service benefits

Bhubaneswar: Over 20,000 teachers from unaided schools and colleges, under the banner of Odisha School College Teachers' and Employees Coordination Committee (OSCTECC), have announced to launch a protest in Bhubaneswar on Friday, coinciding with Teachers' Day. The committee has raised several long-pending demands, including govt aid to eligible private educational institutions, service benefits for teachers and staff, increasing retirement age to 62 years and implementation of equal pay for equal work.Teachers alleged that despite repeated assurances, the state govt failed to address these issues, forcing teachers to resort to agitation. According to OSCTECC, thousands of teachers and employees in unaided institutions remain deprived of job security, pension benefits and parity in salaries, while contractual and part-time appointees continued to suffer discrimination. "We have been left with no option but to protest on Teachers' Day to remind the govt of its responsibility towards educators. Many teachers retired from their jobs without getting any service benefits and are struggling for survival without any pension," said Ranjan Kumar Das, Convenor of the committee.The protest is expected to witness participation from 194 high schools, 28 middle english schools and college teachers, non-teaching staff and retired employees' groups from across the state. The committee has also warned of a larger statewide agitation later this month if the govt does not come forward with a concrete decision."This is not the first time that we are staging a protest. Despite the Supreme Court's directive on equal pay for equal work, the state govt did not pay heed to it. The schools and colleges run by private managements are struggling to run these institutes not because they are profit-making but for the sake of running the institutes and the children who are studying in these schools and colleges," said Madhu Sudan Dey, another schoolteacher and member of the committee.Despite repeated attempts, govt officials could not be contacted.