Bhubaneswar, Aug 28: Heads of various educational institutions that receive block grant aid joined the agitation today to mount pressure on the state government to meet their demands.

The block grant teachers have been agitating for more than a decade over their demands of abolishing the block grant system and implementation of grant-in aid system and permanent jobs.

Principals of colleges and headmasters of schools along with over 30,000 block grant teachers from across the state took part in the demonstration today at Mahatma Gandhi Marg here.

A meeting between the agitators and the government authorities that was scheduled today was postponed later.

The agitators, protesting under the banner of Odisha School College United Teachers and Employees' Association, have threatened that the agitation would be intensified if their demands were not met at the earliest.

"We will intensify our agitation in the upcoming days. The government has been betraying us since a very long time. There has to be an end to this," said Pabitra Mahala, an agitator.

Around 80 per cent of schools and about 15,000 teachers and employees in various colleges get the block grant aid. The agitation has severely affected teaching in schools and colleges governed by the block grant system. Classes at nearly 4000 high schools and 1500 colleges across the state are getting disturbed due to the strike.

According to a source, the state government is working on an amicable solution to the problem. If the demands of the teachers are meet, it will cost an additional burden of Rs 805 crore on the government exchequer per year.