Youth Congress supporters place school council chairman’s chair on road in Jalpaiguri on Thursday. Picture by Biplab Basak

Siliguri, Aug. 12: Youth Congress workers today tried to garland the daughter of a CPM-dominated teachers’ union leader to protest alleged corruption and nepotism in the recruitment of primary school teachers in Jalpaiguri district.

The protesters also removed the chair of the Jalpaiguri District Primary School Council’s head from his chamber and placed it in the middle of the road.

Around 12.30pm, the Youth Congress members, including women, reached Hargilapukuri BFP School where Soumita, the daughter of district president of the All Bengal Teachers’ Association Monoranjan Bhadra, had joined as a teacher on August 3.

“Initially, we requested her to resign from the job as there were malpractices in the recruitment process,” said Saikat Chatterjee, the Jalpaiguri district Youth Congress president. “But she insisted that she got the job on merit and our workers became angry. One of our woman supporters tried to put a garland around her neck to congratulate her. She tore the garland and abused us.”

Chatterjee said Soumita’s appointment was an instance of favouritism in the selection drive. “She scored only 61.02 per cent in Madhyamik exams. But many candidates, who had secured over 80 per cent marks, did not find a place on the final list of applicants chosen for teacher jobs. The recruitment was supposed to be made on the basis of marks the candidates had secured in Class X exams, along with the scores in written tests and viva-voce,” he added.

Soumita, on the other hand, alleged that the Youth Congress workers had misbehaved with her. “They were shouting slogans and demanding that I quit the job. I felt insulted when they tried to garland me. I have got the job on merit and there is no question of any favouritism,” she said.

The school is located at Konpakhri in Sadar Block, 15km from Jalpaiguri.

The Youth Congress workers returned from the school around 2pm and their next destination was the council office in Jalpaiguri town.

“We entered council chairman Mrinal Pal’s chamber and brought down his nameplate, as he no longer deserves to be in the post. We took his chair outside and placed it in the middle of DBC Road,” said Chatterjee. “He is the main man behind the corruption and does not have the right to remain as chairman. That is why we expressed our protest in this manner.”

Law enforcers from Kotwali police station reached the spot and took back the chair to the chamber.

Several candidates, whose results had been withheld, launched a demonstration outside the council office yesterday. “After the publication of the final list, we found that our results had been put on hold. We approached the state school education department and came to know that there are 295 such candidates, whose results have been withheld,” said Jayanta Roy, a job applicant.

“There is utter confusion as the council chairman is not attending his office and nobody else is in a position to say what our exact status is.”