Bhubaneswar: Privately managed schools in the state on Sunday alleged harassment by the government, which has not yet issued no-objection certificates to them, on grounds of non-fulfilment of criteria.More than 15,000 private schools, under the banner of All Odisha Private School Association (AOPSA), have threatened to launch a statewide agitation if the government does not fulfil their 12-charter point of demands.They alleged that the government has refused to grant them an NOC owing to shortage of trained teachers, absence of a midday meal scheme, kitchen shed, playground and ramps for physically challenged children. They also accused the block and district-level officials of exploiting them by demanding bribes for issuing NOCs and tampering with records.A NOC is considered mandatory for a school to start functioning. Sources said more than 5000 applications of different schools are pending with the the government for an NOC, while only 16 schools have received the same this year."The government has been harassing the school managements by not giving NOCs. There is no fixed guideline or rule on the basis of which an NOC is given to a school and the certificate has to be renewed every eight months. Even schools should be given ample time to fulfil the requirements," said Ajit Kumar Dash, convener of AOPSA.While the government gives a relaxation of several years to state-run schools for fulfilling the criteria, in case of private schools the rules are quite stringent."Owing to acute shortage of teachers, the government has been training them after appointment. In such a scenario, how does it expect us to recruit trained qualified teachers?" asked Dash. More than 50 lakh students in the state study in 15,000 private schools which have five lakh teachers and staff, he added.The AOPSA said the schools' management committees, teachers, parents and students will intensify their agitation if the government fails to consider their demands in the next 15 days.However, sources in the school and mass education department said: "Most of the private schools were found violating norms under the Right to Education Act. Almost all private schools were found violating the mandatory criteria of giving 25% reservation to children belonging to the economically weaker sections under the RTE."The state government had issued notices to these schools asking them to fulfil the criteria some months ago. "If they fail to fulfil the criteria, the government will take drastic steps like asking the schools to shut down or impose penalty on them," said director elementary education, Chudamani Seth.