A two-hour-long meeting between representatives of protesting teachers, demanding reinstatement of their jobs, and Education Department officials on Monday failed to break the ongoing deadlock. Instead, the protesting teachers said they would take their protest to Delhi.
With Education Minister Bratya Basu skipping the meeting, the six-member delegation of sacked teachers met Principal Secretary Vinod Kumar and Secretary Subhra Chakraborty at Bikash Bhavan at Salt Lake, outside which the teachers sacked by the Supreme Court have been protesting for the past three weeks.
On Sunday, Education Minister Basu urged the protesting teachers to repose faith in the government and assured them that all legal steps were being explored to find a solution to the impasse. He had reiterated that “untainted” teachers, who were sacked by the Supreme Court due to procedural lapses in the 2016 recruitment process, would continue to receive salaries and remain in service until the fresh recruitment process concludes by December 31.
Vrindaban Ghosh, a member of Joggo Shikha Shikhika Adhikar Mancha, which is spearheading the protest, told mediapersons after the meeting that they discussed the government’s review petition in the Supreme Court. “They showed us the draft (of the review petition). It is strong. But they told us that whether it would be accepted or not depends on the Supreme Court. As per the Supreme Court order, the notification for re-examination has to be issued before May 31. We told them that we do not want to sit for exams again. We are not in the mental and physical condition to take the exams. They (the top officials) listened to us, but they said that no one was above the law, and they would have to follow the order of the Supreme Court,” Ghosh said.
“If a small percentage was involved in illegalities, why should every eligible candidate be victimised? With all humility, we again urge the state government to ensure that the tainted ones are singled out by checking every OMR sheet of about 26,000 candidates,” he added.
Asked about the SC directive for the SSC to issue a fresh notification regarding the 2016 recruitment by May 31, Ghosh said, “We don’t want any new notification. Let the government consult legal experts to communicate our situation to the Hon’ble judges. We pray that the state submits before the SC the formation of a new panel containing the names of untainted candidates. The ball is in the SC’s court now.”
Expressing unhappiness over the absence of the education minister at the meeting, Habibulla, another delegation member, said: “The officers we met did not have answers to several of our questions. They said they would communicate with the government regarding our stand. We also asked why the education minister was not taking part in the meeting. Several questions remain unanswered. So, we were dissatisfied. We wanted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee or Education Minister Bratya Basu to meet us, but it did not happen. There are certain issues which can only be addressed at the ministerial level. We will send a fresh mail to the Education Minister requesting a face-to-face discussion. We still want to meet the CM and the education minister,” he added.
Stating that they would take their protest to Delhi, Habibulla said: “We will take the protest to Delhi. It will not stay in Bengal. We feel we did not get justice. The Supreme Court did not see our side. Therefore, the order of the Supreme court should be reviewed,” added Habibulla.
Earlier in the day, Chinmoy Mondol, the face of the agitating teachers, was summoned to the Bidhannagar North Police station over the May 15 violent protests.
The protesting teachers have been staging a sit-in near Bikash Bhavan for the past three weeks, demanding reinstatement.
Tensions escalated on May 15 when over a thousand protesters entered Bikash Bhavan compound and refused to allow state employees to leave until they received assurances that no fresh recruitment tests would be required. Police later resorted to a lathi-charge, leaving several protesters injured.
The Supreme Court on April 3 had invalidated the appointments of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff of state-aided schools, deeming the recruitment process “vitiated and tainted.”
— With PTI