Bhawanipatna: Life was thrown out of gear as the CT-BEd Asayee Sangh of Kalahandi observed a dawn-to-dusk strike on Wednesday, demanding district-wise appointment to siksha sahayaks (para teacher) posts.

All government and private offices, banks remained closed. Commuters faced difficulties as vehicular traffic was paralysed. Schools and colleges also remained closed.

The strike call came after the local certificate training (CT) and bachelor in education (BEd) aspirants for the siksha sahayak posts had found candidates from other districts recruited and invited for verification of their certificates. This sparked tension on Monday and Tuesday. The local aspirants denied the "outsiders" to get their certificates verified on Monday. On Tuesday, however, candidates from outside the districts were given police protection during the certificate verification. This angered the local CT and Bed-trained candidates.

Several local organisations, including the Kalahandi Bar Association, Kalahandi Chamber of Commerce and the Kalahandi Sachetan Nagarik Manch, lent support to the strike call. Political parties such as the Congress and the BJP backed the strike, while the BJD kept away from it.

In the morning, the agitators staged picketing in various places and blocked the NH-26 that connects Kalahandi with Balangir and Sambalpur by burning tyres. Some agitators were detained when they were trying to forcibly enter the district institute of education and training.

Roshan Kumar Joshi, a sangh member, said it was unfortunate that the unemployed CT and BEd aspirants of Kalahandi were denied the job and candidates from outside the district were being recruited. "There are hundreds of CT and Bed-trained candidates of Kalahandi, who have applied for the posts. We demand that all appointment to the siksha sahayaks should be made on district-wise basis. Support to the strike is spontaneous. People have supported it voluntarily," Joshi said.