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Reinstatement of teachers sought

Staff Reporter

BHUBANESWAR: Some 500 teachers who were appointed under the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) on Tuesday squatted on the main road leading to the Assembly, seeking reappointment of retrenched teachers. The provocation was the issue of retrenchment letters to some 7,500 teachers across the State.

“The government has ignored the pathetic situation in elementary education in remote pockets of the State. Initially, some 20,600 EGS teachers were appointed. But in due course, their number was reduced to 18,300. Now, the government wants further reduction by 7,500,” said Jayanti Lal Sahu, president of the State EGS Teachers’ Mahasangha (SETM).

He said two of the EGS teachers died due to severe mental pressure. Mr. Sahu said according to the Standing Committee of the State Assembly, some 41,000 teacher posts were lying vacant in the State.

“If the EGS teachers are upgraded to sikshya sahayak on the strength of their experience, the government could solve the problem to some

extent. Moreover, the primary education will get a boost,” he said.

In 2001, the government implemented the EGS programme, giving appointments hundreds of youths to bring back 20 lakh school dropouts. Every teacher was entrusted with the task to bring 20 students back to school. The teachers sought immediate halt to the retrenchment process.

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