Teachers allowed to return to school until December 31 because they have been identified as “not specifically found tainted”, urged the state government to argue before the Supreme Court that this categorisation suggested segregating the untainted teachers from the rest was possible.
The state government has filed a petition seeking a review of the apex court’s April 3 order in which the court terminated the jobs of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff because the recruitment process was “tainted beyond redemption”.
The teachers staging an indefinite sit-in in front of Bikash Bhavan, the education secretariat in Salt Lake, said the state government must raise the point that the
Supreme Court itself, in its April 17 order, allowed the “not specifically found tainted” teachers to return to school for now.
“Since then, the education department has identified 15,403 teachers to resume work and draw salaries. The state government has disallowed 1,804 teachers from joining school and drawing salaries as they are deemed to be tainted. This clearly suggests that the segregation of the untainted is possible based on the evidence the school service commission has,” said Siuli Batabyal, one of the 15,403 teachers.
“If the state’s counsel highlights this simple fact diligently before the Supreme Court, our jobs could be saved and we could continue beyond December 31,” she said.
Batabyal, a schoolteacher from East Burdwan, is among hundreds going to the Bikash Bhavan protest site every day.
“We fervently hope the Supreme Court hears the review petition before the SSC comes up with a fresh recruitment notification by May 31. We hope the court accepts the logic of segregation to spare us,” said Batabyal.
On April 17, the court asked the state government, the state secondary education board and the SSC to file an affidavit by May 31 spelling out the details of the fresh recruitment notification.
Dhitish Mandal, a protesting teacher, wondered how they would prepare for the fresh recruitment process.
“I spent the past six days in Delhi to collate the vakalatnama (a legal document that allows a lawyer to plead their case) of 7,000 teachers so a separate review petition filed by the candidates can be heard before the Supreme Court. We have to appoint lawyers to fight our case and arrange resources for it. When is the time to prepare for the exam?” Mandal said.
The teachers, represented by the Deserving Teachers’ Rights Forum, have been staging a sit-in in front of Bikash Bhavan for the past 10 days.
Upset over the state education department’s decision to proceed with a fresh recruitment exercise to fill the vacancies arising out of the termination of jobs, the teachers tried to storm Bikash Bhavan on Thursday in protest.
The Telegraph reported on Saturday that the commission was set to issue a fresh hiring notification on May 29, in compliance with what the Supreme Court said on April 17 while modifying its April 3 order.
“If the Supreme Court hears and accepts our petition, in which we have sought a review of the April 3 order, the crisis could be resolved. But if the petition is not heard, and our logic is not accepted by the court by the end of May, we have to publish the new recruitment notification. If the 15,403 teachers intend to continue their jobs beyond December 31, they have to take part in the recruitment process. They will be allowed an age relaxation if they agree to write the recruitment test, as ordered by the Supreme Court on April 17,” an official of the education department said.
The department is drawing up a list of vacant positions, which it will send to the commission for the hiring process that has to be completed by December 31.
Moumita Sarkar, a schoolteacher in Howrah, said it was not possible for them to write the test afresh.
“The syllabus for 2016 has completely changed. How can we prepare for that now? What if we do not get selected? Besides, why should I write a retest when I was recruited fairly?” said Sarkar.