Monday, 14 July 2025
Monday, 14 July 2025
A large number of "eligible and untainted" school teachers, whose appointments were annulled by the Supreme Court, scuffled with the West Bengal Police on Monday afternoon when their rally was stopped at Howrah Maidan, a few kilometers ahead of their destination, the state secretariat Nabanna.
The agitators, organised under the banner of 'Sikshak Adhikar Manch' (Teachers' Rights Forum), pushed and shoved against a human barricade set up by the personnel in uniform, leading to tension on the ground after protesters remained steadfast on reaching the secretariat and meeting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with their demands.
The protesters were finally stopped by the police with iron wall barricades, which were earlier set up further ahead at Mullick Fatak on the GT Road, with the law enforcers appealing through public address systems to not resort to any form of force or violence.
The agitators were seen engaging in verbal spats and repeated scuffles with the police in their efforts to move past the barricades, leading to occasional flare-ups.
A section of teachers leading the rally claimed that a delegation of 20 teachers would be meeting Chief Secretary Manoj Pant at Nabanna to press their demands.
The protesting teachers -- insisting on publication of OMR sheets of the 2016 School Service Commission exams, a complete list of tainted and untainted candidates, and an unconditional reinstatement to their jobs, among other demands -- sought an audience with the chief minister for an official response.
A massive contingent of lathi-wielding police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel, armed with water cannons and overhead drone vigilance, were deployed to stop the advancing protesters.
Multiple iron barricade walls, some as high as 10 feet, were also set up at various points leading to the secretariat. The marching agitators defied the route which the police initially wanted them to take and stuck to GT Road in their attempt to reach their destination.
"We will not sit for any exam. We have been wronged against and it is the responsibility of the government to reinstate us with our salaries in our original positions," a protesting teacher said.
"We have been told that the chief secretary is ready to meet us. But we want the chief minister in that meeting as well. We want the highest executive authority of the state to answer our questions," another teacher said.
The Supreme Court, in April this year, scrapped the entire panel of teaching and non-teaching positions of the 2016 SSC exams on the grounds that large-scale corruption had rendered the selection process "tainted and vitiated" beyond redemption, leading to the termination of nearly 26,000 jobs.
While the court ordered a fresh selection process for the vacant positions, it directed the state government and the SSC that eligible applicants will have to participate in the process from scratch, including appearing for fresh exams.
Both the SSC and the state have announced their plans to move review petitions before the top court, but the stakeholders have unsuccessfully argued in the high court for allowing identified tainted candidates, who resorted to unfair means to secure jobs, to participate in the fresh selection process as well.
"We are not afraid since we stand for truth. The chief minister has consistently stood behind the tainted candidates. That's why she is shying away from meeting us and using her police force to stop us from reaching her office," a protester said.
"This government has made no attempts to resolve the crisis that has evolved because of rampant corruption within its own system. If this government had the right political will, it would have by now officially published the list of untainted and eligible teachers. Instead, it has chosen to side with the tainted. This rally is a challenge to the arrogance of the corrupt," another teacher said.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh alleged that the Left and saffron parties were "instigating" teachers to gain political dividends from such agitations.
"The Supreme Court has terminated their jobs. Our government is fighting this legally. It tried to provide interim relief to the affected non-teaching staffers, but the Left and the saffron brigade have thwarted that in the court. They are now provoking teachers to gain political dividends," he added.
With inputs from agencies
