Kolkata, West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu on Monday expressed surprise over the ongoing sit-in by the Deserving Teachers Rights Forum “despite the state government taking all possible steps within the parameters of law to save their jobs and ensuring that they continue to receive salary.”
Around 1,000 protesters, part of the Deserving Teachers Rights Forum, have been staging a sit-in since May 15, demanding reinstatement.
The teachers are also asserting that they should not be made to appear for fresh recruitment tests, arguing that they had already cleared the 2016 West Bengal School Service Commission examination and have been actively teaching since then.
The teachers are among the 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff whose appointments were invalidated by the Supreme Court on April 3, terming the entire recruitment process as “vitiated and tainted”.
Speaking to reporters, Basu expressed his dismay over the escalation of the protests, particularly the blockade outside the gates of Bikash Bhavan, the state education headquarters, on May 15.
“I cannot fathom why they did such things after the government sat with them on several occasions and took all legal steps, including moving the Supreme Court in consultation with senior advocates,” Basu said.
He emphasised that the state government had taken every possible step to support the affected teachers.
“We had sent their names to the offices of the District Inspector of Schools, and they have been receiving salaries. Many had returned to their workplaces. Now I don’t know why they have suddenly returned to agitation. We don’t want their service records to be affected — for their interest,” he added.
On the teachers’ demand not to sit for a fresh recruitment exam, Basu clarified, “The SSC is acting strictly under the directions of the Supreme Court. We cannot act independently of the court’s instructions.”
The Supreme Court had directed the SSC to issue a notice for initiating a new recruitment process for the 2016 candidates by May 31, with the process to be completed by December 31.
In response, Chinmoy Mondal, spokesperson of the Deserving Teachers Rights Forum, said, “The state and the SSC did not consult us before moving the Supreme Court. We see an attempt to shield tainted candidates by excluding real stakeholders from the process.”
Tensions escalated on May 15, when at least 20 teachers and several policemen were injured as police allegedly used force to disperse the agitators who had stormed into Bikash Bhavan and staged an eight-hour-long sit-in. Following the eviction, protesters have continued their demonstration on the adjacent main road.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.