Telanga, 10th Sept 2025: After a long 24 years, the government has finally started seeking information on terminated non-formal education assistants. In this context, a meeting of such assistants from the Telanga block of Puri district was held at the Primary Teachers’ Association Hall in Telanga Hat.
Presided over by former project officer Prafulla Kumar Maharana, the meeting included detailed discussions on government letters and High Court directives regarding the issue. The meeting was conducted by Sadashindhu Bishwal and Prabhas Chandra Maharana, with participation from Prabhati Mangaraj, Gatanjali Mahapatra, Gusiya Badhiparasingh, Dillip Kumar Pradhan, Bijay Kumar Sandhu, Pratibha Mahanti, Sutrabeshi, Surendra Pradhan, and Bhubaneswar Behera.
A major demand raised in the meeting was for the immediate reinstatement of those terminated non-formal education assistants who are still awaiting appointment.
These assistants, who had provided continuous education to children aged 6 to 14 years from 1987–88 to 2001 under the National Education Policy 1986, were terminated on May 31, 2001, when the non-formal education program was discontinued. Many of these assistants had completed degrees like C.T. and B.Ed. and hoped to be included in future government recruitment.
However, when the EGS (Education Guarantee Scheme) started in 2003, the Odisha School and Mass Education Department had issued directives for the priority appointment of such terminated assistants. But since the power of appointment under EGS lay with local committees, many were appointed based on personal recommendations instead, excluding the deserving terminated assistants.
In 2008, the department again instructed district education officers to prepare lists of such assistants for possible appointment. Based on that, in 2011, seven terminated assistants, including Sulochana Nayak, were appointed under EGS as per High Court orders. Despite this, a large number of terminated assistants are still awaiting appointments, and the issue was discussed in detail during the meeting.
Representatives like Santosh Kumar Sahu had filed petitions with the Governor in 2013 and also approached the Odisha High Court in 2021 and 2024. After years of struggle, the Odisha School and Mass Education Department, following High Court instructions, on July 10 this year directed all District and Block Education Officers to submit updated lists of terminated non-formal education assistants.
Following this directive, a meeting was held in Telanga block where the participants renewed their demand for immediate appointments. Kailash Chandra Pradhan, during the vote of thanks, expressed hope that the current government would act with humanity and take appropriate action.
Out of the original 9,000 non-formal education assistants, after excluding those already appointed, deceased, or over-aged, around 4,000 assistants are still struggling with physical, mental, and financial hardships due to their prolonged unemployment, it was revealed in the meeting.
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