Teachers hold mass rally despite Govt warning

Even though the State Government has warned the teachers not to leave schools without submitting applications, over 50,000 teachers under the banner of the Odisha Primary Teachers’ Association (OPTA) (Under New Pension Scheme) and the Odisha Sikshya Sahayak Association (OSSA) gathered here and staged a demonstration demanding fulfilment of their three-point charter of demands here on Wednesday.

It might be mentioned here that the teacher bodies had earlier submitted memorandum many times to the fitment committee to remove inequalities in salaried paid as per the Sixth Pay Commission.

But the fitment committee didn’t look into such demands and implemented the Seventh Pay Commission in a partial way for which inequalities in the Sixth Pay Commission continued in the Seventh Pay Commission.

“Primary teachers in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab and other states are getting Pay of Rs 9,300 and Grade Pay 4,200 as per Sixth Pay Commission but primary teachers in Odisha are still getting Pay of Rs 5,200 and Grade Pay of Rs 2,200 which violates the Right to Education Act norms.

The State Government had implemented the Right to Education Act in April 2010 and as per the Act the minimum eligibility of the primary teacher should be Plus Two and CT and salary will be paid as per the post. But the Government has not yet upgraded the minimum eligibility from matriculation and CT to Plus Two and CT, Mohanty added.

He said teachers fulfilling criteria of Plus Two and CT are getting salary meant for Matriculation and CT holders.

The other demands include regularisation of Siksha Sahayaks who have completed six years in job and abolishment of the post (Sikshya Sahayak posts and naming them tas junior teachers.

The teacher bodies have threatened they would continue stir for indefinite period until their demands are not fulfiled.

Among others, OPTA general secretary Khagendra Nath Pal, OSSA president Malay Kumar Jena, general secretary Arjun Kumar Sethi, Bikram Rath, Purnachandra Acharya, Manoj Mohanty, Mahendra Mishra, Rajlaxmi Mahapatra, Aswini Rout, Ananta Parida, Pramod Kumar Bhanja and Pabitra Mohan Jena were present.

Source : http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/teachers-hold-mass-rally-despite-govt-warning.html

Haryana Govt to set up chair in universities

Even after facing severe criticism from the opposition parties, the Manohar Lal Khattar Government in Haryana is still going full throttle to celebrate the birth centenary of RSS ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhyay.

After holding events in Government-run schools to spread awareness among lakhs of students about life and teachings of the RSS ideologue, Haryana Government has now proposed to set up a chair in the name of Upadhyay at Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak and Kurukshetra University in Kurukshetra.

For promoting the achievements of the RSS ideologue, the BJP-led Haryana Government is also considering publication of books on him and organising lectures, national level workshop and seminars on Upadhyay in various universities.

Haryana Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma will preside over a meeting of Vice-Chancellors and Registrars of all government and private universities of the State here on Wednesday in this regard.

The issues to be taken up in the meeting include setting up of chair in the name of Upadhyaya in Maharshi Dayanand University and Kurukshetra University and publication of books on Pt. Upadhyaya’s unitary humanism thought. Other issues would include organising lectures on Pt. Upadhyaya’s life and philosophy, and national level workshop and seminars on him.

Apart from this, various issues concerning improvement in higher education would also be discussed in the meeting. Earlier this year, more than 2000 copies of “Deendayal Upadhyay Sampoorna Vangmaya”, a compilation of his speeches and writings were distributed to libraries of educational institutions throughout the state by the BJP Government.

From organizing events to launching schemes named after Upadhyay, the State Government has planned a series of events for his birth centenary celebrations.

Source : http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/chandigarh/haryana-govt-to-set-up-chair-in-universities.html