Kolkata SSC recruitment controversy: Thousands of “untainted” teachers, who were rendered jobless after the Supreme Court invalidated their appointments over alleged irregularities in the recruitment process of the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC), were on Monday stopped from marching to state secretariat Nabanna where they wanted to meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as police sealed off the area with barricades.
However, a delegation of 20 protesting teachers was allowed to meet Chief Secretary Manoj Pant at the Shibpur police lines. Pant, accompanied by Director General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Kumar and other senior officers, was handed over a list of demands by the protesters.
On April 17, the Supreme Court had annulled the appointment of nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff in the state-run and aided institutions after finding irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process, terming it as “tainted”. Later, the court had given clean chit to 15,403 of the teachers, declaring them “untainted”.
Members of the delegation, who submitted their demands to Pant, said they were unhappy with the meeting as they have not got any solution from the government.
Mrinmoy Mondal, who was part of the delegation, told mediapersons, “ We thought that the CM would meet us but that did not happen. It is sad that she did not have time to meet us. They (government) have been saying that they will take legal advice. When we told the Chief Secretary that they are protecting the tainted candidates, he said they have to think for all being in the government. They could not give us any reply and left. Let the CM come and tell us that they cannot put up the list. We feel that they are still supporting the tainted people.”
“The police informed us that no list will be published today, so we are withdrawing the protest. We have decided that there will be no more indoor meetings with the state government. We will hit the streets and we will also launch Kalighat Abhijan where we will go to the CM’s residence.”
The protest, organised by the Jogya Shikshak Shikshika Adhikar Mancha — a platform representing the “untainted” candidates — sought a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to press for the publication of eligible and ineligible candidates’ lists, and to demand reinstatement without the need for reappearing in examination.
Police officials said four major roads leading to Nabanna were blocked with large and smaller barricades in Howrah. A large number of police personnel from Howrah, Barrackpore and Bidhannagar commissionerates besides Rapid Action Force (RAF) teams were deployed with tear gas and water cannons. Also, drones were used for aerial monitoring.
The protesters marched toward Nabanna amid continuous rain and even had heated exchanges with the police.
The protesters were seen engaging in verbal spats and repeated scuffles with the police in their efforts to move past the barricades, leading to occasional flare-ups. They alleged that they were being treated like criminals despite being declared “untainted” by the courts.
“They think we are anti-social. We are untainted according to the Supreme Court, but our jobs are in danger. The government is favouring tainted candidates and fighting legal battles for them, while ignoring us,” said Mehaboob Mondal, a protester.
Another protester said, “We will continue this fight. The chief minister should meet us and explain why there’s silence over our future. The tainted are being protected; for us, there are barricades and tear gas.”
Chinmay Mondal, a demonstrator, said, “We just wanted to meet the Chief Minister and place our demands before her. Instead, we’re being treated like terrorists. If the government had spoken to us earlier, this march wouldn’t have been necessary. Why is the state government going to court for tainted candidates but not listening to us?”
Animesh Ghosh, another protesting teacher, said, “Truth cannot be suppressed. Our life is in limbo till December, after which we don’t know what will happen. The government must take responsibility and give our jobs back with dignity.”
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh alleged that the Left and saffron parties were “instigating” teachers to gain political dividends from such agitations.
“The Supreme Court has terminated their jobs. Our government is fighting this legally. It tried to provide interim relief to the affected non-teaching staffers, but the Left and the saffron brigade have thwarted that in the court. They are now provoking teachers to gain political dividends,” he added.
Last week, a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court comprising Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das De dismissed an appeal of the state government and the SSC to allow “tainted” candidates in the fresh recruitment process. The single-judge bench had earlier directed the School Service Commission to bar the identified “tainted” candidates from participating in the new hiring process initiated after a Supreme Court order.