Thousands of State Selection Board (SSB)-recruited lecturers serving in aided colleges across Odisha staged a peaceful demonstration near the Assembly at Lower PMG Square on Sunday, demanding pay parity, service recognition and dignity equal to that enjoyed by lecturers working in government colleges.

As part of the protest, demonstrators burnt dummy payslips to highlight the pay disparity and growing frustration among teaching staff. Slogans such as “We teach Odisha’s future — treat us with justice,” “Same work, same law, same pay,” and “Merit deserves dignity” echoed across the protest site.

Vice-president of the Odisha State Selection Board Lecturers’ Association (OSLA), Manas Ranjan Sahoo, told The Telegraph: “These SSB-recruited lecturers, serving in 488 aided colleges, form the backbone of Odisha’s higher education system, particularly in rural and semi-urban regions. Yet they face persistent discrimination in pay and service benefits. While government college lecturers are recruited by the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC), we are selected by the SSB. Both follow rigorous procedures, so legally and morally, we qualify for the same pay scale.”

Sahoo said that SSB recruitment involves a written examination, interview and career evaluation. “The higher education department recruits, transfers and regulates us but denies us the status of government employees. This dual-control system forces lecturers to shoulder full academic responsibility without legal or financial recognition,” he said.

OSLA spokesperson Tathagata Rout said the pay disparity violates the principle of fairness. “Historically, SSB lecturers enjoyed UGC pay parity until 1989, but post-2016 recruits were downgraded arbitrarily without any statutory amendment. Such disparities also contradict the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020’s emphasis on merit-based and equitable recruitment,” Rout said.

Another lecturer, Dr Sanjay Mohanty, added: “We are educators chosen through merit, not favour. Our demand is not privilege but parity — justice within the law. Even our salary is less than that of schoolteachers.”

The protesters demanded restoration of the UGC pay scale and implementation of “equal pay for equal work.” They urged the government to redesignate all SSB lecturers as Assistant Professors, as mandated by the 2016 gazette notification and recognise them formally as state government employees.

They also sought full-service benefits, including house rent allowance, pension, leave encashment, gratuity and eligibility for administrative positions within the higher education department. “We have been denied both recognition and respect despite being integral to the state’s academic structure,” said an OSLA member.

The lecturers warned that if their demands were not fulfilled before the upcoming winter session of the Odisha Assembly, they would launch an indefinite hunger strike as a mark of peaceful resistance.

The association said it remains hopeful that the government will address their grievances before the situation escalates. “We only ask for equality under the same law,” Sahoo reiterated.