A group of para-teachers tried to reach chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s house in Kalighat by wading through the water of Tolly’s Nullah on Tuesday morning, demanding pay parity with regular teachers.

Senior police officers, headed by Calcutta police commissioner Soumen Mitra, rushed to the spot to block the protesters. Mamata was at her home then.

Tolly’s Nullah flows behind the chief minister’s Harish Chatterjee Street home.

Screenshot from a video of para-teachers trying to cross Tolly’s Nullah to reach chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s home on Tuesday morning to demand pay parity with regular teachers Sourced by The Telegraph

The agitators, some of whom had reached the mid-point of the canal by the time the police team had reached the spot, could be prevented from reaching Mamata’s home.

Six men and a woman were arrested from the spot.

The incident, which took place between 10.30am and 11am, prompted the senior brass of Lalbazar and officers of the state directorate of security to review the security arrangements in and around the chief minister’s home.

Police reach the spot and stop them Telegraph picture

Mamata’s house is heavily guarded and no one without a valid reason is allowed within 500m of the Kalighat address. Sources, however, said the rear of the house, which opens onto Tolly’s Nullah, was relatively less secured as the canal forms a natural cordon, officers said.

A senior officer said Tuesday’s incident was “more to seek attention than being a security breach”.

Para-teachers were recruited between 2007 and 2009, before the implementation of the right to education act. The government made the recruitment hoping that enrolment of students would see a jump following the implementation of the act, which says all children between six and 14 have to be covered under the school education system.

However, being part of the unorganised sector, the salaries of para-teachers are much less compared with regular teachers.

The para-teachers who had gathered near Mamata’s house on Tuesday — some of them were holding placards — said they were demanding pay parity with regular teachers.

Last month, another group of para-teachers had demonstrated outside the Assembly complex and some of them had scaled the compound’s main gate, threatening to jump over.

On Tuesday, they demanded a meeting with the chief minister for a quick resolution of the matter, one of them said.

A para-teacher holds a placard Telegraph picture

“We were promised equal pay in 2011. Again we were made the same promise in 2016. Another Assembly election is approaching but there is no change in our status,” one of the agitators said, referring to the promise reportedly made before the previous two Assembly polls.

The para-teachers had gathered near Alipore and sneaked past a bylane adjoining the Alipore Central jail that opens into Tolly’s Nullah. The chief minister’s residence is located on the other side of the canal.

Sources at Lalbazar said they were reviewing the security arrangements to increase human vigil and install barricades to cordon off the canal.