Bhubaneswar, 22nd Sept 2025: The agitation by the Primary Teachers’ Association, which had been ongoing for two days at the Gandhimarg Dharanasthal (protest site), was temporarily suspended on Friday afternoon. The union had been demanding payment of salary at the central government scale. On Friday, a 15-member delegation of the union met with the independent Secretary of the School and Mass Education Department, Girish Chandra Singh, and discussed the teachers’ issues in detail. After the discussion, Mr. Singh assured that prompt action would be taken regarding their demands. Based on this assurance, the union suspended the agitation, said union president Sunil Kumar Pradhan.
The union warned that if the demands were not met within a month, the teachers would resume their agitation and take to the streets again.
The eligible Elementary Cadre Grade VI (A) teachers had been protesting under PMG (Post Graduate Mode) for payment of salary at the central government scale. According to the ORSP Rules 2017, the basic salary of these teachers has been fixed at ₹23,600 as per Grade Pay 2200. Based on the Education Rights Act 2019 and National Education Policy 2020, the basic eligibility qualifications for primary teachers have been increased from 2 CTC (certificate courses) to graduate B.Ed. level.
The agitators stated that in Navodaya and Adarsha Schools, teachers from 1st to 8th standard with the same qualifications are receiving ₹4,600 grade pay. However, primary school teachers are still working at matric grade pay level, and their basic salary has not been increased so far.
Therefore, the primary teachers demanded a basic salary with central government grade pay of ₹4,200. They sat on a dharna (sit-in protest) at the protest site.
On Friday, after the assurance given by the Secretary of School and Mass Education Department, the protest was withdrawn.
The delegation included union core committee members such as Sunil Kumar Pradhan, Prakash Narayan Jena, Ajit Kumar Maharana, Malay Kumar Jena, Vivekananda Behera, Aratabhaj Janan Sahu, Triptimayi Nayak, Pradipta Kumar Behera, Pradipta Kumar SenGupta, Divya Kumar Chand, Tanmay Giri, Pramod Kumar Behera, Amaresh Mallik, Sanjib Satapathy, and Ashok Mandal.