‘Tainted’ vs ‘untainted’ at stir site over classification
Times of India | 25 April 2025
123 Kolkata: A group of teachers started a sit-in demonstration outside the School Service Commission office on Thursday, contesting their exclusion from the list and raising concerns about OMR disputes. They positioned themselves adjacent to an existing protest that had been ongoing for four days. The proximity of the two protest sites led to conflict between the two groups with members engaging in a confrontation regarding classification issues.
"My name is not on the list as there was a dispute in the OMR. I don't know what happened. I did not give a single penny to anyone, but I am marked as tainted. Is this justice?" said Satabdi Sarkar, a Bengali teacher from Birbhum. Soma Sahu, another Bengali instructor from South 24 Parganas, raised concerns about the authenticity of mirror images.
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Subhajit Paul, who teaches history in North 24 Parganas, expressed distress about his exclusion from the list and subsequent instruction to cease attending school. He emphasised his compliance with all required procedures since joining in 2018.
The situation became chaotic when the group that had been protesting since Monday increased their volume on microphones and began chanting slogans, creating disruption at the demonstration site.
Ritesh Ghosh, who organised a rally following the Supreme Court order, emphasised equality in protest rights, noting that all 26,000 educators faced job losses. Chimoy Mandal, a prominent protest leader, expressed surprise at police allowing another group to demonstrate at the same location, stating they had not created any divisions themselves.