The stalemate between the state government and the protesting school employees, who were terminated from services by the Supreme Court, continued on Tuesday night.
There was no breakthrough in the talks between the officials of the School Service Commission and a six-member delegation of the teachers as hundreds of protesters continued their gherao of the West Bengal School Service Commission office in Salt Lake.
Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged them to return to their duty, assuring that they would continue to get their salaries.
At an administrative review meeting in Paschim Medinipur district, the chief minister, addressing the protesting teachers, said: “Why are you sitting under the scorching sun? Go back to school. Take classes peacefully. You don’t have to worry about your salary. Those who are inciting you will not pay you. The government will pay your salary.”
Assuring that the government will file a review petition in the Supreme Court for reinstatement of their jobs, Banerjee asked them not to press for the release of the “tainted” and “untainted” list of candidates.
On April 3, the top court invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and staffers at state-run and aided schools, calling the entire selection process “vitiated and tainted”.
The state government had earlier promised to release the list of “tainted” and “untainted” candidates of the 2016 SSC examination by April 21 (Monday) but failed to do so.
“I have spoken to them (protesting teachers) at least 10 times since yesterday evening. If I was in Kolkata, I could have settled it in a second. Some people are adamant on getting the list of tainted and untainted published. Why are you stepping into all these? You don’t need to see who is eligible and who is not eligible. The state government is there to see that. There are courts. We will see what the court says. You work, you need to see whether you have a job or not. You need to see whether you are getting paid or not,” she said.
“You can trust us on this. Trust those who have given back jobs. Don’t trust those who are taking away jobs… A few people are sitting in Bengal, just to take away jobs. They don’t do the people’s work. They just go to courts and file PILs (Public Interest Litigation). The court is not responsible for this. We give jobs, and they take it away,” the CM said without taking names of the Opposition parties.
In Kolkata, state Education Minister Bratya Basu clarified that the government after consulting with legal experts, decided against publishing the list of “tainted” and “untainted” candidates, saying it would amount to “contempt of court”.
“The state government is with the agitating teachers. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has assured all sorts of help. We are working in the interest of those who lost their jobs, and will continue to do so,” he said.
“We are filing a review petition. So, I request the agitating teachers not to act in any way that may weaken our petition, violate the Supreme Court’s order, or result in contempt of court by them or us,” he added.
“The Government will not take any strict action. We believe in talks. Have we used any force? We are hopeful that they will sit for talks. We are cooperating, but they have gheraoed the SSC office and are not allowing them to work. How can both happen? We don’t want a single innocent person to suffer. We would like them to withdraw the strike immediately,” Basu added.
Basu refuted allegations that anything had been said about the first three counselling lists being untainted. “Why are they (the protestors) talking about counselling when that was not even given in the Supreme Court’s order? The SC has clearly said that those who are not tainted can go to school. They are calling for trouble for their review petition,” he added.
Meanwhile, after the meeting with SSC officials late Tuesday evening, Chinmoy Mondol, a leader of the protesting school staff, said: “They ( SSC) cleared that all untainted teachers, irrespective of counselling, will get salary and take classes. We are not satisfied with this. Tomorrow, the court is going to hear a petition on OMR sheets publication. We are waiting for the hearing. We want a certified list and publication of OMR sheets, or our protest will continue.”
PTI adds: Protesting teachers Tuesday accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of making “false promises of job security”.
They also alleged that the SSC has lost all credibility after its failure to publish the list of untainted candidates and, by extension, identify the deserving teachers, by the deadline of 6 pm on Monday.
“The CM asked us not to be apprehensive about the list of the tainted and untainted. She said the government will take care of that. After they fail to come up with the list of untainted candidates on the SSC website as promised on April 22, do they have any more credibility?”
Samirul Islam, a retrenched teacher of Malda district, told PTI, sitting in front of the SSC office.
He alleged that the state government is only trying to buy time so that the movement fizzles out.
Dipankar Bhowmik, a jobless teacher of Dakshin Dinajpur district, said, “What she has claimed will not stand judicial scrutiny.”