Bhubaneswar, March 28: The Odisha Vidyalaya Sikshak Mahasangh today resumed its protest demanding fulfilment of its various demands.

Taking out a rally of about 5,000 teachers, the association alleged that the state government had failed fulfil its promise to look into their demands of regularisation of jobs and implementation of the grant-in-aid system.

The teachers had called off their protest last month to undertake their board examination duties (Classes X and XII). At that time, thousands of teachers from the block grant schools in the state staged a sit-in at Lower PMG Square here for one-and-a-half months. They are now braced for a return to Bhubaneswar's streets to press for their demands.

"Not just this time, the state government has cheated us over and over again with false promises," said Mahasangh member Jaganath Sahoo.

Various other teachers' bodies, which had decided to rejoin their duties and co-operate in the conduct of matriculation examinations that started on February 22, have also decided to resume their protests.

The Block Grant Secondary Schoolteachers and Employees' Association that had called of its strike following an interim order by Orissa High Court asking them to join the examination duty has also decided to resume its stir.

Association secretary Prashant Mahapatra said: "We are waiting for March 30 when the case will be heard in the court again. We will decide on the next step after that."

The association has 26,000 teacher-members from 2,608 schools.

"We had to resume our duties for the sake of our students and not because of the government. False assurances from the state government are nothing new; we are used to this," said senior association leader Prashant Mishra.

"We have been humiliated and beaten up, arrested and treated like criminals for demanding our dues. The people are not fools and they are with our cause," said Subhashree Deura, a teacher.

In another development, the School Teachers' Federation of Odisha, an umbrella organisation of 14 teachers organisations, has also decided to resume its protests against non-implementation of grant-in-aid to schools.

The 40,000 teachers from 2,608 schools, who had joined the examination duties, wore black badges as a sign of protest the government.

The Odisha Secondary Schoolteachers' Associa-tion, too, has decided to resume its protests.