Cuttack: The heads of departments' staff - section officers and ministerial officers - have decided to intensify their pen-down agitation from Monday by preventing all senior officers from entering their offices.

The section officers and ministerial officers of around 60 heads of departments have been on an indefinite pen-down strike since August 18. They are demanding restructuring of their cadre according to chief minister Naveen Patnaik's approval order that was issued more than four months ago.

The agitation is being spearheaded under the joint banner of the Odisha Heads Department Section Officers' Association (OHDSOA) and the Odisha Heads Department Ministerial Officers' Association (OHDMOA).

"The general council of the two associations have decided to intensify the agitation by preventing all senior officers from entering the heads of department offices till 1.30pm from Monday," Madhu Mallik, advisor to the associations, said on Sunday.

Mallik said representatives of both associations were called for a meeting with chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi as well as special secretary at the Chief Minister's Office, Niranjan Swain. "But the two meetings turned were disappointing as they were informal and there was nothing official about them. No officer of the finance or general administration departments was present," he said.