West Bengal SSC scam: Why aspirants are protesting against Mamata Banerjee govt despite clear directives from SC?

 

Protests by teachers who lost their jobs following the cancellation of the 2016 West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) panel has intensified dramatically in Kolkata. On Thursday, the protesters spent the entire night outside Bikash Bhavan, the headquarters of the West Bengal school education department, and they continue to sit in dharna.

On Thursday, the Jogyo Shikkhak Shikkhika Odhikar Mancha (Qualified Teachers’ Rights Platform), the primary force behind the protests triggered by the Supreme Court’s verdict, had called for a protest march to gherao (surround) the Bikash Bhavan.

However, chaos broke out when the demonstrators allegedly breached the police barricades and tried to storm the building by breaking one of its gates. It led to a confrontation with the police.

Adding to the unrest, the protesters accused Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and Rajarhat New Town MLA, Sabyasachi Dutta, of orchestrating physical assaults against them.

Dutta, who is also the chairman of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, denied the allegations and stated that he was visiting Bikash Bhavan for personal work when protesters forcefully stopped him from entering. 

Later in the evening, the protesters sealed off all entry and exit points of Bikash Bhavan, which houses various state government offices, effectively trapping officials inside. Police eventually had to escort the staff out under tight security.

As night fell, the situation escalated further. Allegedly, the police resorted to baton charges to disperse the demonstrators. It is claimed that several protesters suffered head injuries from police batons. Tensions flared again on Friday morning when a section of the protesters attempted to break through the police barricades.

Following the cancellation of the entire 2016 SSC panel, the Supreme Court has granted interim relief to the “untainted” or qualified teachers who lost their jobs. The court has allowed these teachers to continue working until December 31, the deadline by which the state must complete a new round of recruitment.

Additionally, the Court instructed the state government and the SSC to publish a fresh notification for recruitment by May 31 and to submit an affidavit confirming this.

The qualified teachers, on the other hand, are unwilling to participate in another recruitment process and as a result, they fear that they will be permanently jobless after December 31, if no resolution is reached soon. 

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had promised them that their jobs will be protected, and consequently, the state has also filed a review petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the 2016 SSC panel cancellation verdict. The petition is yet to be taken up for hearing.

Mehbub Mondal, the convenor of the Jogyo Shikkhak Shikkhika Odhikar Mancha, told the media, “We’ve repeatedly raised our concerns with the state’s education minister, but to no avail. We now demand immediate intervention from the chief minister. It’s not enough to make promises. She must give a concrete assurance that they will be fulfilled.”

He also asserted that they would oppose any attempt to release a new recruitment notification without their involvement. “As per the Supreme Court’s instructions, the education department must consult us before issuing any new notification. Our feedback must be taken into account in shaping that process,” he added.

The teachers who lost their positions have outlined seven key demands. Primary among them is that the government must take responsibility for reinstating them with dignity. This reinstatement should be carried out through legal means, including review processes and other appropriate mechanisms.

The government must also engage in discussions with them regarding the review process. Additionally, they insist the state government should exercise its special powers to publish a new panel and restore jobs to the qualified candidates through a legitimate process.

“The new generation must understand that if qualified teachers are denied jobs now, there can be no guarantee for future recruitments,” Chinmoy Mondal, another member of the Jogyo Shikkhak Shikkhika Odhikar Mancha told the media. “If our rightful jobs, earned through merit, are not returned to us with dignity, then those ministers and MLAs must also be dismissed.”

India