Police, Block Grant Teachers face off in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, Feb 5: Many block grant teachers were sustained serious injuries as police resorted to lathi charge during agitation here on Friday. During the protest, the teachers tried to break the cordon to gherao the residence of the Chief Minister.

The teachers have been protesting against the state government over their 9-point charter of demands including full grant-in-aid. The association of the teachers had called for agitation and gherao of Chief Minister on Feb 5.

During the protest, teachers broke cordons ignoring warnings from Police officials. As a result, police charged lathis on teachers to disperse the agitation teachers. Many teachers injured in the lathi charge while some police officials are said to be injured in the stone pelting incidents.

The teachers blamed the state government of using police force to strict their protest. They alleged the state government has not been taking their issues seriously as Chief Minister had assured to look after their demands on Sep 27 last year while discussing with teachers representatives here. They also blamed the state government for declaring 20 percent hike in the salaries of block grant teachers.