Odisha teachers stage protest on Teachers’ Day

Bhubaneswar, Sep 5: Thousands of school teachers staged a protest here on Tuesday to press for their demands including equal pay for equal work, pension and other service benefits. Wearing black badges, the teachers under the banner of Odisha Secondary School Teachers’ Association took out a protest rally here at Lower PMG and demanded the state government to consider their demands. “We have been demanding government aid for unaided schools, implementation of Seventh Pay commission recommendations, pension and other service benefits for teachers. However, the government is not paying any heed to our genuine demands. So, we were forced to hit the streets on Teachers’ Day,” said Ranjan Kumar Das, general secretary, OSSTA. Vinod Mohanty, a protesting teacher, asked, “We have given 30 important years of our lives for the service of society and to build the future generation. But the government neglected us. If we do not get pension, how will we survive after retirement?” (PTI)