Baripada,18th Sept 2025: Dring the Union Minister’s visit to Mayurbhanj district, officials from the Mayurbhanj Teachers’ Coordination Committee met with Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Odisha’s School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond at the local Circuit House. They submitted a charter of demands highlighting various issues faced by teachers.
The committee urged both the Union and State Ministers, as well as Odisha’s Housing and Urban Development Minister Dr. Krushna Chandra Mahapatra, MPs, and MLAs present at the event, to reconsider and address their demands.
The key demands presented were:
1. Exemption from mandatory TET (Teacher Eligibility Test) for teachers who were appointed before 2011.
2. Regularization of teachers appointed on contract basis since 2001, ending the 6-year contractual period.
3. Appointment of a minimum of three teachers in every primary school.
4. Relief of teachers from non-academic duties, allowing them to focus solely on teaching.
5. Restoration of the old pension scheme in place of the new pension scheme.
The ministers assured that appropriate steps would be taken to resolve these issues.
Those present in the discussion included:
- Committee President: Purnananda Acharya
- Secretary: Bimal Kumar Acharya
- Coordinator: Harekrushna Barik
- Organizational Secretary: Somanath Singh
- Media Coordinator: Gadadhar Nayak
- Advisors: Yamini Panda, Gauragopal Lenka
- Executive Committee Members
- General Secretary of the Primary Teachers’ Association: Rajendra Kumar Mahant
- State Coordinators: Bhavesh Panigrahi, Pradeep Kumar Nath
- Other notable participants: Siddheswar Mishra, Ajay Mahant, Shivanarayan Mahant, Ajay Mahapatra, Deepak Kumar Patra, and Sipra Namata.
The meeting highlighted the collective voice of the teaching community seeking policy changes for improved working conditions and job security.