Cuttack, Sept. 3: The Odisha Secondary School Teachers’ Association has reiterated its demand for the abolition of block grant system in the state and threatened to launch an agitation from September 7.

Association members today said the state government had not taken any steps to fulfil their demands. Over 6,000 teachers, who get meagre salaries under the block grant system, will demonstrate in Bhubaneswar on September 7.

“We will court arrest on Friday as most block grant teachers of the state are deprived of basic facilities, including equal pay for equal work,” said president of the association Indu Prasad Mohanty.

Mohanty said the block grant teachers had staged demonstrations in front of district circle inspectors’ offices in 30 districts and submitted memorandums to the state government on August 4. They had also staged a peaceful demonstration in Bhubaneswar on the first day of the monsoon session of the Assembly on August 28. However, the state government did not call the representatives for any discussion, Mohanty said.

In 2004, the government introduced the block grant system after repealing the grant-in-aid system. At present, around 24,000 teachers are working in 1982 block grant schools and getting a salary of Rs 4,995 a month while teachers in government and semi-government schools were paid a salary of around Rs 15,000 a month. The block grant teachers are also not entitled to pensionary benefits despite many of them having completed over 25 years in service.

The association is also demanding for extension of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan benefits to block grant high schools, abolition of appointment of contractual teachers and filling up of nearly 2,000 headmasters’ posts that are lying vacant in various schools.

“At present, there are nearly 11,000 contractual teachers while there is a vacancy of 30,000 teachers across the state,” said secretary of the association Rahunath Sahu.