Protesting teachers in West Bengal, who had lost their jobs following a recent Supreme Court order linked to allegations of irregularities, on Saturday set a deadline for state Education Minister Bratya Basu with regard to meeting them for a discussion on the issue.
Speaking to reporters, protesters under the Jogyo Shikshak-Shikshika Adhikar Mancha said, “We had previously written to the Chief Minister and Education Minister regarding our situation. We would like to have a discussion with them, but no one has contacted us. We will write again today. If they do not give us an appointment by Monday, we will intensify our protests.”
“We will write to every Member of Parliament from the state. We will try to hand-deliver the letters or send them by mail, these letters will be regarding our situation. We would like our situation to be brought up in the Parliament’s next session,” the aggrieved teachers said.
Underlining that they are “facing the brunt of a corrupt recruitment process”, one of the protesters said, “We are genuine candidates… We deserve to know what steps the government is taking, particularly regarding the review petition filed in the Supreme Court.”
The teachers said they will follow the Calcutta High Court’s order and move their protest site from Bikash Bhavan to Central Park. “We have selected a spot in Central Park and have informed the police, but we will only shift there once all the amenities like temporary shelter, water and bio-toilets are arranged by the police. Till then, we will be sitting here,” a protester said.
The court had on Friday directed the agitators to shift the protest venue in the interest of public convenience. It also limited the number of participants to 200 at any given time. The court directed the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation to provide essential amenities, including drinking water and bio-toilet facilities, at the new protest site and instructed the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education to refrain from taking further steps related to show-cause notices issued over the May 15 incident. Teachers had clashed with the police outside the Bikash Bhavan that day, and many people sustained injuries.
On April 3, the Supreme Court upheld a previous order of the Calcutta High Court that annulled 25,753 appointments to schools made through the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC). The court observed that the panel had to be scrapped entirely due to the authorities’ failure to distinguish between “tainted” and “untainted” candidates. The state government and the WBSSC have since filed review petitions in the apex court seeking reconsideration of the order.