The Orrisa High Court expressed dissatisfaction over the issue of pension for employees of aided educational institutions and the repeated seeking of time.

Cuttack : During the hearing of cases related to pensions for retired employees of aided schools and colleges in the Orrisa High Court, the court expressed dissatisfaction over the state government once again seeking more time. During the hearing before a division bench comprising Justice Dixit Krishna Sripad and Justice Chittaranjan Dash, the government requested that the next hearing be scheduled after the summer vacation. On the other hand, the senior advocate representing the retired employees opposed this request. The attention of the High Court was drawn to the order dated February 17, 2026, which had stated that no further time would be granted to the state government. Following this, the High Court directed that all related cases be heard together on May 21. The government had earlier informed the court that a high-level committee headed by a retired Chief Secretary had been formed to examine the grievances of the retired employees. The High Court has now directed the government to inform the court at the next hearing about the actions taken by this committee. The High Court also directed the state government to disclose the names of the committee members. The court stated that this would allow disciplinary action to be taken against committee members in case of any negligence or lapses on their part.

It is noteworthy that employees retiring from block grant and current aided educational institutions are not receiving pensions and other retirement benefits. Earlier, while hearing a case filed by Sarat Chandra Parida on this issue, the High Court in 2015 ruled in favor of granting pensions and retirement benefits to retired teachers, lecturers, and employees of block grant schools. This ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court. Later, however, the government rejected applications filed by hundreds of employees of aided educational institutions seeking pension and retirement benefits from the day following retirement. Subsequently, on January 12, 2024, a single-judge bench of the High Court ruled that teachers, lecturers, and employees of aided educational institutions must be provided pensions and retirement benefits within three months. Challenging this order, the government filed multiple writ appeals before a division bench.

Joint hearing currently underway in the High Court . The High Court is currently conducting a joint hearing on the government’s appeals. Senior advocates Ashok Mohanty and Buddhadeb Rautray, along with advocate Dr. Purushottam Chuli, are representing the retired employees in the case.