Nyagarh,23rd Aug 2025: Teachers across Nyagarh district held a strong protest against the implementation of online attendance, including a gherao of the District Collector’s office. Teachers from all eight blocks of the district participated in a massive rally from Biju Patnaik Kalyan Mandap in Newtown to the District Collector’s office.
Around 4,000 teachers and educators marched, raising slogans against the government. They blocked the main road in front of the office and held a protest meeting. Organizations involved included the Secondary Teachers’ Association, Primary Teachers’ Association, Nyagarh District Joint Teachers & Staff Coordination Committee, and various school teacher bodies.
Teachers expressed their strong objection to the mandatory online attendance system (UAS), which they said is being imposed only on them while other government employees are exempt. They also complained that necessary resources such as mobile devices, data/Wi-Fi services, data entry operators, and computers were not provided to schools, making the online attendance system impractical.
The protesting teachers announced that they would expand the movement in the future, including gherao of all MLAs and a district-wide campaign to strongly oppose the online attendance mandate.
The protest demands, in the form of letters addressed to the Chief Minister, Education Minister, and Education Secretary, were submitted to the District Collector through the Sub-Divisional Magistrate. Prominent teacher leaders participating included Sheikh Abdul Khalik, Brajbandhu Subudhi, Baman Barik, Bibhu Sahu, Suresh Behera, Dinabandhu Sahu, Prasanna Kumar Lenka, Panchanan Mahapatra, Bigneshwar Behera, Ayodhya Nayak, Vinayak Parida, Mani Kesh, Jyotiranjan Dash, Bhakt Mishra, Naresh Panigrahi, Suresh Mahapatra, Dinabandhu Das, Suresh Sethi, Pitabas Pradhan, Lakshmidhar Sahu, Sangram Sahu, Umesh Swain, Rabindra Sahu, Bhagaban Panda, Batakrishna Mishra, Abhimanyu Mahanti, Prashant Mahapatra, Amita Pradhan, and Jayakrishna Pradhan, among others.
The teachers strongly opposed the government’s decision to implement online attendance under current conditions.