DAV teachers call off cease-work stir

CUTTACK: Bringing relief to the parents, the students as well as the authorities, teachers of the DAV schools on Saturday decided to call off their cease-work stir. Normal classes will resume in the DAV public schools at CDA Sector-6, Raja Bagicha and Sreevihar from Monday. The teachers held a meeting to discuss the developments and resolved to call off the agitation. The move has come in the wake of concrete assurances by the principals and management that action would be taken on teachers’ demands very soon. “Keeping trust on the promises and in view of the larger interest of the students, we have decided to resume duties from Monday,” a teacher said. Around 200 teachers of the three schools had gone on strike from July 4 to protest non-enhancement of their salaries for the last three years by the management. They had been attending classes but had refrained from teaching the students. They had demanded increase of DA to 87 per cent from the existing 35 per cent that they were being paid under the salaries in accordance with the Fifth Pay Commission. After the hike, the DA should be increased to 115 per cent within six months, they had demanded. The managements on their part had expressed their inability to meet the demands but offered to consider hike out of their existing resources. They had offered to form committees to study financial resources and recommend the quantum of hike. But when the teachers stuck to their guns terming the move as a delaying tactics, the Regional Director HK Mohanty issued a notice announcing suspension of classes, barring Class XII, from Monday onwards for an indefinite period. The announcement had fuelled deep resentment among the parents and guardians, who had threatened to move court as well as the State Human Rights Commission and the School and Mass Education Department over the matter. Reacting to the development, Mohanty said  the management was aware of the problems faced by the teachers since there was no hike for the last three years. Action will be taken soon in this direction, he assured.