Till August 21 last year, Saroj Bhunya, a Kharagpur resident, would take his bike to a state-run school where he was employed as a group-D staff. That morning he collapsed following a brain haemorrhage.
The semi-paralysed Bhunya with the support of his wife and son reached Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor stadium on Monday to hear chief minister Mamata Banerjee address their woes.
Bhunya is among the 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff whose names have been struck off the payrolls of the state government twice in a year, first by the Calcutta high court and the Supreme Court last week.
Thousands of the aggrieved employees uncertain about their future were at the gate of the Netaji Indoor stadium. Many of them were not allowed to enter the premises as they did not get the “pass” that was issued marking the individuals as “Yogya” – which is at the bottom of the dispute that has hit the nerve-centre of Bengal’s education system.
Teacher, who lost his job after a Supreme Court verdict invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and other staff in state-run and state-aided schools in West Bengal.
The protestors were glued to their smartphones listening to the chief minister speak, many of them with zero expectations.
“We have no hopes from the chief minister,” said a protesting teacher. “This government gave us jobs. We lost our jobs during this government’s tenure.”
“Provide evidence that we are tainted. Hang us, throw us from the 14th floor of the state secretariat. I am ready to accept any punishment but they have to prove we are guilty. We only expect her to create more drama,” said another protestor.
Teacher, who lost his job after a Supreme Court verdict invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and other staff in state-run and state-aided schools in West Bengal.
The chief minister in her 30-minute addressed spoke sympathetically, trying to underline the apprehensions expressed by the family members of Bhunya and many others who were waiting in the sun.
“Right now we should have been in our classes. Exams of the students from classes V to IX are being held. Here we are trying to find out where we will go from here,” said Chiranjib Biswas, a resident of Bankura’s Indas, who would have completed seven years as a teacher later this month.
Teacher, who lost his job after a Supreme Court verdict invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and other staff in state-run and state-aided schools in West Bengal.
Since last year’s Calcutta high court verdict, which came in the midst of the Lok Sabha polls, Mamata has been trying to pin the blame on the opposition parties for the fiasco. Ever since former Calcutta high court judge and present BJP MP from Tamluk Abhijit Ganguly ordered a CBI probe into the case several Trinamool leaders including former state education minister Partha Chatterjee were arrested in connection with the scam. The first chargesheet filed by ED mentioned Rs103.10 crore being recovered from Arpita Mukherjee, a confidante of ex-minister Chatterjee, who has since been removed from the party.
The protestors are also unhappy with the apex court’s order of holding fresh elections.
“The school service commission conducted these examinations. They were involved in corruption. None of them have been punished. Here we are being punished. How do we know what happened to the OMR sheets? The same SSC will conduct the exams. What is the guarantee that there will be no corruption next time?” asked another affected teacher.
Many of them do not believe the state government will be able to comply with the apex court’s directive to complete the process within three months.
“It is impossible for the process to be completed in three months. This will take at least a year to be sorted. The government should tell me I am tainted and I will leave,” said Kaustav Mandal, a dismissed teacher from Howrah.
