Agitating teachers broke down guardrails lined by the cops outside Bikash Bhawan in the Kolkata suburb of Bidhannagar as the stand-off between the protesters and the state government spilled to the second day Friday.
After Thursday’s siege of the state education department’s office where the protesters broke open the gate and swarmed inside, the teaching and non-teaching staff remained on the streets overnight at a little distance from Bikash Bhawan.
The Supreme Court, while upholding a Calcutta High Court order from last year, had scrapped the entire panel of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff from the State Level Selection Test from 2016. The state government has been instructed to announce fresh recruitment by May 31 and complete the process by December 31.
The sacked teachers and non-teaching staff are determined not to appear for exams once again, claiming they had cleared the previous rounds of exam and interviews to secure their jobs and were not involved in the cash-for-jobs scam.
Friday morning when the guardrail cordon was removed by the protesters the police including the Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel stepped in. The protesters immediately sat down on the spot that they were and the stand-off has continued since.
The protesters jostled with the cops to step inside the heavily guarded Bikash Bhawan.
Last night the protesters were allegedly assaulted by the cops and many were seen bleeding. The cops too claimed some of their personnel, including women, were hit by bricks.
“We were not involved in any violence. We are holding our protest peacefully,” said one of the protesters.
The protesters allege last night after the showdown with the cops, bike borne youths were seen moving around the protest site. Yesterday while the agitation was on the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation chairman Sabyasachi Dutta got involved in a heated argument with the protesters and had to be escorted by the police. The protesters alleged Dutta’s followers had assaulted them while the police looked on.
The state government and the School Service Commission have filed two separate review pleas with the Supreme Court. The government has queried “how 18,000-plus candidates were not specifically found tainted had been made to suffer for the alleged illegality committed by the SSC in the selection process in respect of certain other tainted individuals.”
The protesters are unwilling to wait for the apex court to hear the pleas and give its verdict and demand they be allowed to continue in their respective positions beyond December 31. As the court has ordered a fresh recruitment process to be undertaken, the state government insists it will have to follow the court’s directive.
In a meeting held at Netaji Indoor stadium last month, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had assured that after the “non-tainted” candidates are protected she will find a solution for the “tainted” ones too.
The Bidhannagar police have filed multiple cases against the proesters.