The protesting schoolteachers are still firm on not participating in a fresh recruitment exercise, but the Bengal government told them on Monday that there was no other way than to comply with the direction of the Supreme Court.

At a meeting with the state education secretary at Bikash Bhavan, a delegation of teachers iterated their position — they did not want the government to publish a recruitment notification, they want the government to retain their jobs through a petition seeking a review of the Supreme Court’s April 3 order in which the court had terminated 25,753 school jobs.

The teachers “not specifically found tainted” are staging a sit-in outside Bikash Bhavan, the education secretariat, since May 7.

Calcutta High Court last week ordered them to shift to Central Park, so the road outside Bikash Bhavan could be freed. The teachers, however, did not shift to Central Park, alleging that the state administration had yet to give a power connection at the new site. Some terminated non-teaching employees are also part of the protest.

The protesting teachers said they would write to members of Parliament so that they raise their issue in the next Lok Sabha session. They demanded that either chief minister Mamata Banerjee or education minister Bratya Basu hold talks with them.

A senior education department official said the six-member delegation of teachers was told that the government and the school service commission had already filed petitions in the apex court seeking review of the April 3 order.

The teachers were told that the state had to comply with the Supreme Court’s April 17 order, which asked the government to submit an affidavit on initiating the fresh recruitment drive by May 31.

The April 17 order had also said teachers “not specifically found tainted”, and allowed to go to school till December 31, would have to take part in the fresh recruitment test if they want to continue in their jobs beyond the relief period.

“Unless the Supreme Court reverses the April 3 order, these teachers are not left with any option but to write the fresh selection test if they want their jobs beyond December 31. This is our legal position that has been explained to the teachers. While we are sympathetic to them, the state government cannot defy what the apex court has said. Otherwise, we will be held in contempt of court,” the official said.

The government, in its petition, has argued that the apex court in its April 3 order failed to appreciate that over 18,000 candidates “not specifically found tainted” have also been made to suffer “for the alleged illegality by the SSC in the selection process in respect of certain other tainted candidates”.

The SSC, in its plea, has contended that when it was possible to segregate the tainted candidates, it was not clear why the court ordered the cancellation of the entire selection process.

“We have seen drafts of the review petitions. We are satisfied with the contents. When we sought to know the status of the recruitment notification, they told us they had to abide by what the Supreme Court said in its April 17 order,” said Brindaban Ghosh, who was part of the delegation.

“We told them that we got our jobs after proving our eligibility in the 2016 test. Therefore, we would not write a fresh test to retain our jobs. It is the government’s responsibility to ensure our jobs are retained without us writing a fresh test.”

Minister Basu said on Sunday that an education department official would “get in touch” with the “not specifically found tainted” protesting teachers.

On May 20, the teachers wrote to Basu, seeking a dialogue on ending the impasse.

Habibullah, a member of the delegation, said: “We want the education minister
to meet us”.