Amal Kisku, a Trinamool Congress leader and the headmaster of a primary school in Malda, faces protests from hundreds of residents and guardians when he turned up at the school on Thursday.
A crowd assembled near the Parhabinagar Primary School in Bamangola block of Malda to prevent Kisku from entering the school, alleging that he had remained absent from duty for more than a decade.
Kisku had contested three Assembly elections from the Habibpur Assembly constituency of the district as a Trinamool candidate since 2016, including a by-election.
Though he was never elected as an MLA, the state government later nominated him as a member of the regional transport authority (RTA) in Malda.
Anil Chandra Mandal, Ranjit Biswas and some other residents of Parhabinagar alleged today that Kisku, the headmaster of the state-aided primary school, had stopped attending school since 2016 after contesting the Assembly elections for the first time.
“We informed the sub-inspector of schools several times about Amal Kisku’s prolonged absence from the school, but no action was taken. Now he suddenly came to the school, which irked us. He not only remained absent for years, but also showed no concern for the school,” Mandal said.
The villagers and guardians demanded that the Trinamool leader return the salary, which they claimed he had drawn during his prolonged absence from duty.
“This is a kind of corruption. He drew a salary without attending the school,” Biswas alleged.
Kisku was unable to enter the school premises and eventually left the area.
“I will not comment on the charges,” he said, before leaving.
Officials of the district primary education council, when contacted, said the matter would be looked into if a formal written complaint was submitted.
“Those who have made the allegations should file complaints with us. We will immediately conduct a probe,” said an official.