Bhubaneswar, Nov. 16: Hundreds of computer teachers working under the e-Vidyalaya project today hit the streets demanding regularisation of their services and urging the state government to free them from the clutches of private agencies.

The teachers, who took out a rally near the Assembly today, complained of high-handedness of the private companies. They alleged that they were being paid only around half the salaries of what they were promised initially and the private companies were siphoning off the rest of money.

The state government had taken the initiative to impart computer training to students at the high school level under the e-Vidyalaya project. It had entrusted the job to the government-run Odisha Knowledge Corporation in 2014.

The corporation, instead of recruiting teachers and undertaking other jobs under the e-Vidyalaya project, entrusted the job to two private companies - Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFSL) and the Telecommunication Consultants India Limited (TCIL).

The ILFSL was given the responsibility to run the e-Vidalaya project in 27 districts, while TCIL was handling three districts - Jajpur, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur.

The teachers protested when the companies paid them Rs 5,914 per month instead of the promised salary of Rs 10,000.

"We had been recruited by the company after a rigorous process of selection. Most of us had to take a written test followed by an interview. When we protested the reduced salary, they started terminating the teachers. I am also a victim," said Nihar Tripathy, a computer teacher.

Along with Nihar, five other teachers - Ashish Ranjan Panda (Rayagada), Soumya Ranjan Tripathy (Balangir), Satya Priya Das (Cuttack), Itismruti Mohanty (Cuttack) and Sanjay Dutta Acharya (Nayagarh) - were handed termination letters.

"As soon as we started protesting, the company resorted to pressure tactics. They are even talking about holding fresh examinations, which is a way of sacking teachers who have raised their voices against it," said Nihar.

The agitating teachers today lodged their complaints with the chief minister's grievance cell. The protesters demanded that they be treated on a par with government teachers and regular posts be created in all schools.

"How can the government follow different yard sticks in dealing with teachers? In the same school, a teacher is getting a salary of Rs 30,000 per month, while another gets less than Rs 6,000," said another teacher.

"Computer education should be made compulsory in every school from the primary level to the Plus Two level," said another teacher Ashish Ranjan Panda.

"Even a skilled labourer in Odisha gets Rs 350 per day, but we are being paid less than Rs 200 a day. The state government should ensure that the teachers get a respectable salary," he said.

One of the headmasters of a high school said: "Besides teaching, they also have to register the names of Class IX and X students and prepare monthly attendance sheets. The government should acknowledge their role and regularise their jobs."

"We are aware of the teachers' issue. The government will examine their demands and initiate steps accordingly," said a senior official of the school and mass education department.

In the evening, the teachers locked the office of the ILFSL. Despite several attempts, the head of ILFSL, Ambuja Singh, could not be contacted.