Odisha’s Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj, along with Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan, visited the teachers’ protest site and assured agitators that their long-pending demands would be resolved in a short time.
Minister Suraj said 79 reports running to about 800 pages had reached the government and that the state would take a decision soon. He asked the protesters to send a representative delegation for detailed talks with the administration.
The ongoing agitation, organised under the Odisha School College Teachers’ and Employees Coordination Committee (OSCTECC), entered its 21st day on Teachers’ Day. Teachers from unaided schools and colleges have been holding a round-the-clock sit-in at Mahatma Gandhi Marg / Lower PMG in the capital, demanding grant-in-aid, pension, filling of vacant posts, parity in service conditions and an increase in retirement age from 60 to 62.
A key demand is grant-in-aid or equivalent financial support for 194 high schools that have functioned for 25–30 years but were left out of earlier GIA orders. The unions also want pension and retirement benefits for teachers and employees of newly aided schools and aided colleges.
The Law Minister said the government would decide only after examining and interpreting the committee report, and could not take a decision without that process. He described the dispute as nearly 20 years old, said the government was sensitive to it, and asked teachers to trust the process, end the protest and return home.
The protest continued even on Guru Divas. After the Higher Education Minister’s announcement, many agitating teachers said they were more hopeful — but insisted that assurances were not enough and that they wanted a concrete settlement.
All eyes are now on the proposed talks with a teachers’ delegation and on the government’s decision in the coming days. Unions say fulfilment of the demands would improve service conditions and strengthen the state’s education system.
