IN LINE OF FIRE

• Dec. 18, 2015: Kin and family members of deceased employees of state energy department vandalise energy minister Pranab Prakash Das’s residence, while demanding job under rehabilitation scheme

• Dec. 18: Two members of Go-Mitra Mahasangha try to self-immolate themselves in front of agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy’s residence. Cops foil bid

• Dec. 9: National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) members stage demonstration in front of higher education minister Pradeep Panigrahy's residence against “illegal” confinement of some students of Ramadevi Women’s University by police prior to chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s visit

• Dec. 5: NSUI members stage protest in front of Bhubaneswar (North) MLA Priyadarshi Mishra’s residence against his “human bomb” remark

• Oct. 28: Women vendors, protesting against demolition of an all-women vending zone, barge into the residence of Bhubaneswar (Central) MLA Bijay Mohanty

• Sept. 3: BJP stages demonstration in front of health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak’s residence following deaths of infants at Sishu Bhavan in Cuttack

Text by Lelin Kumar Mallick

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 22: Four days after protesters vandalised the residence of energy minister Pranab Prakash Das, contractual school teachers today tried to barge into the house of school and mass education minister Debi Prasad Mishra, resulting in a scuffle with police.

The police have arrested more than 20 protesters following the scuffle.

The teachers alleged that they were trying to meet the minister, but the police prevented them from doing so.

The contractual teachers had been agitating since October, demanding the regularisation of their services. They had earlier postponed their agitation till the third week of December after the state government constituted an inter-ministerial committee to look into their demands.

This morning, the agitators staged a sit-in in front of the minister's house at Unit-I for a few hours. They tried to forcefully enter Mishra's house around 11.30am, but were prevented by the police.

"The state government had assured to give regular status to those who have worked on contract for six years. We were also promised salaries on a par with those government teachers. However, a month have passed since the government constituted the committee, but it has done nothing so far," said one of the agitating teachers.

The agitators have threatened to self-immolate themselves in front of Naveen Nivas if the state government failed to issue a notification over the regularisation of their services.

More than 20,000 contractual teachers, who are working in various schools across the state, demand regularisation of their service.

"I have been working for eight years, but as a casual teacher. We have been imparting education to the students consistently, but the government has ignored our demand of regularisation," said another teacher.

School and mass education minister Mishra said that the matter was still pending in Orissa High Court. "An inter-ministerial committee is looking into the matter," said Mishra.

Of late, it has become a trend for agitators to directly knock on the doors of the departmental ministers, mostly in a violent and aggressive manner.

On December 18, the relatives of deceased employees of the energy department had vandalised the residence of energy minister Das, demanding employment under the state government's rehabilitation scheme. The agitators had pelted stones and eggs at the minister's residence.

On the same day, two members of Go-Mitra Mahasangha tried to self-immolate themselves in front of agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy's residence. The police, however, acted in time and prevented them.

Demonstrations in front of various ministers' residences have left the police in a tizzy. In most cases, the police are caught completely off-guard by protesters who gherao the residences of ministers and legislators.

"Police stations concerned have been asked to keep a strict watch on the residences of ministers and legislators during demonstrations," said deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi.