Bhubaneswar, Nov 28: Opposition Congress and BJP members on Monday stalled the question hour of Odisha Assembly over the primary school teachers’ stir forcing Speaker B K Arukh to adjourn the house till 1130 hours.
As soon as the house assembled for the day to take up the question hour, the Congress and BJP members rushed to the well of the house in support of the agitation of the teachers before the Assembly which enters the second day on Monday.
The opposition raised slogans near the podium of the Speaker and disrupted the question hour justifying the teachers demands.
The Speaker appealed to the opposition to go back to their seats and allow the question hour to continue.
He said the Opposition could raise the issue during the zero hour.
But the Congress and the BJP members continued their slogan shouting inside the well forcing the speaker to adjourn the house till 1130 hours.
The Speaker convened an all party meeting when the house met after the adjournment to resolve the issue.
Thousands of primary school teachers have resorted to an agitational path occupying the entire Mahatma Gandhi Marg infront of the state Assembly since Sunday in support of their three point charter of demands which included abolition of contractual system, resume old pension system and increase in grade pay while counting their six years of teaching experience.
The agitating teachers have threatened not to leave the Mahatma Gandhi Marg till their demands were met by the government.
Senior Congress leader Taraprasad Bahinipati and BJP Chief Whip Mohan Majhi have justified the demands of the teachers and threatened to paralyse the Assembly over the teachers’ issues.
They also questioned the absence of the School and Mass Education Minister in the Assembly and regretted that no ministers have discussed the issue with the agitating teachers.
The All Odisha Primary School Teachers Association has warned that all the 54,000 primary schools in the state will be closed and locked if the government does not consider the three point demands of the teachers.
