Bhubaneswar: The Odisha State Non-Government Lecturer & Employees Association (OSNLEA) staged a protest Saturday, at Lower PMG here, demanding the formulation of a new grant-in-aid policy for lecturers and employees for the period between June 1, 2008 and June 1, 2018.
The protesters held placards and banners and raised slogans in support of their demands.
The protestors have alleged that despite repeated assurances for the formulation of a new grant-in-aid policy by the state government, no concrete steps have been taken to resolve their long-pending demands.
The government had earlier announced a new policy framework and invited thousands of suggestions from stakeholders through social media. Meetings were also held with educationists and teacher representatives.
However, the outcome has remained fruitless, teachers claimed. The primary demand centres on the release of pending grant-in-aid benefits.
Teachers argue that successive governments have shown a discriminatory and anti-teacher attitude by withholding these legitimate dues, causing severe financial and mental distress.
OSNLEA president Biswaranjan Das said, “We want the formulation of a new grant-in-aid policy as we are not getting any single grant from the government.
We are getting paid by the college management, which is very less to make our living. The last grant-in-aid policy was approved in 2014, and no polices have been formed since then.
We will starta cease-work protest from Monday until our demands are met”.
PNN