Block grant college teachers threaten to boycott plus II exams

BHUBANESWAR: The 488-category block grant college teachers and employees on Wednesday threatened to boycott annual plus II examinations unless the state government fulfills their demands of grant-in-aid instead of block grant.
Hundreds of teachers and employees of the 488 aided colleges staged demonstration in front of the assembly here protesting the state government's lackadaisical attitude in solving their issues.
The 488-category block grant college teachers and employees coordination committee general secretary Atal Bihari Bal said they get a fixed salary per month irrespective of their qualification and seniority without any other service benefits under the block grant system.
"The teachers get Rs 16,130 per month which is very less compared to the teachers who enjoy full grant. Block grant system should be abolished because it has no pay parity. There is also no promotion or any retirement benefits for teachers," Bal said.
The teachers said they would stage indefinite dharna at the lower PMG till their demands are met. To impose pressure on the government, they have decided not to take part in conducting examinations of thousands of students reading in 500 junior colleges under this category.
"We have been demanding abolition of block grant and implementation of state scale of pay as soon as possible, but the government is cheating us by giving false assurance," said Bal, adding, "If the government doesn't take any decision regarding our issue, we will gherao official residence of higher education minister Pradeep Panigrahi."