Jobless teachers’ protest march after colleague’s death
The Statesman | 30 May 2025
The protesting jobless teachers and non-teaching employees on Thursday have come down heavily on the state government and WBSSC for the untimely death of their colleague Prabeen Karmakar.
“Our co-fighter Prabeen had been suffering from kidney ailments but his health condition deteriorated after he lost job following the Supreme Court order. He was psychologically upset fearing how to bear his medical treatment cost. Both of his kidneys were damaged and died today. Who would be responsible for his death? It’s the state government as well as the school service commission,” said Chinmoy Mondal, a prominent face among the protesting teachers.
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While speaking to reporters today, Mr Mondal said that the state education system has been exposed owing to uncontrolled corruption in the state government, WBSSC and West Bengal Board of Secondary education.
The aggrieved ‘untainted’ jobless teachers will bring out a protest march in the city on Friday demanding the state government to secure their jobs.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday had announced that a notification for the fresh recruitment of teachers would be issued by 31 May assuring that those who lost their jobs would receive age relaxation and be allowed to sit for the exam.
A jobless teacher, Prabeen Karmakar (34), died on Thursday at a rural health centre in Raghunathganj of Murshidabad district.
Prabeen’s bereaved family members alleged that he had kidney ailment but his both physical and mental health condition deteriorated after he lost his job following the recent verdict of the Supreme Court.
On 3 April, the apex court in its judgment invalidated appointments of 25,753 teachers, group C and D employees of government-aided schools across the state. They were appointed through a recruitment examination conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016.
According to family sources, Praveen was an assistant teacher of the Amaipara Udbastu Vidyapeeth at Jiaganj in the district.
He was psychologically upset since the court cancelled their appointments, the sources said.