Kolkata: There is nothing official about the ‘job' that key accused Monojit Mishra, popularly known as ‘Mango', held on the campus. Mishra's appointment as an ad-hoc employee did not follow any procedure, he had no assigned role, and used to sign the attendance sheet for the entire month at a time, even though he attended the campus mostly after duty hours.
Not only Mishra, there are 17 other ad-hoc staffers on the law college campus whose recruitment did not follow any procedure. Among them, six are from Budge Budge, said sources. Ashok Kumar Deb, the MLA from Budge Budge, is the governing body president of the law college.
A college source said, "Neither was any notification published, nor were applications submitted for the recruitment. No screening or verification was done while hiring Mishra. On July 2, 2024, the governing body of the college held a meeting where three persons were recruited, including Mishra. It was as if they were handed jobs on a platter on the signal of somebody very senior in the governing body.
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A college insider said, "The governing body has eight members, but on that day, only four were present, including president Deb and vice-principal Nayna Chatterji, who is also secretary of the governing body. None of the teachers and students wanted Mishra to be recruited, considering his criminal background. That is why four of them refrained from attending the meeting. They also knew that their note of dissent would not be considered by the governing body and the opposition would invite many problems.
""When we came to know that Mishra was being appointed as an ad-hoc staffer, we told the authorities that considering his past activities, his constant presence on the campus will not be safe for students, especially girls. But no one listened to us. We were told he had changed and that if he did anything wrong, the college would take responsibility," a fourth-year student said. College insiders said that since many protested against their recruitment, their contract renewal took place after 45 days instead of six months.
An official pointed out that Mishra did not have an assigned job. "He used to sign the attendance register once a month and came to college when he felt like it. Not only Mishra, there are many others on the campus who don't have assigned jobs. All they do is terrorise people on the campus. Mishra and two other staffers had access to CCTV footage and they engaged in blackmailing teachers and students," said another staffer, adding, "Mishra got Rs 500 per day.
" Vice-principal Chatterji said on Thursday, "I am busy. Our governing body president will be able to answer all questions.
" TOI tried to reach Deb, but he did not respond to calls.