Kolkata: A group of terminated teaching and non-teaching staff, disallowed from returning to schools and excluded from the ‘untainted’ list, launched a protest march towards Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee’s residence at Kalighat.
The United Teaching and Non-teaching Forum, representing these terminated employees, alleged wrongful exclusion from the untainted list. Protestors commenced their rally from Hazra Crossing around 12.30 pm but were stopped by heavy police deployment before reaching the CM’s house. Scuffles broke out near barricades. Demonstrators briefly blocked Hazra Road before being removed by police and taken to Hastings Police Station. They blocked the Hazra Crossing in south Kolkata demanding an audience with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. They demanded to be reinstated or at least allowed to work until December 31, following the court’s directive that allowed some teachers to continue temporarily.
Traffic came to a standstill for nearly an hour along the busy Asutosh Mukherjee Road-Hazra Road crossing as protesters voiced their anger at being labelled “tainted” despite qualifying in the 2016 West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) Recruitment Test.
Sushmita Bhattacharya, a protestor, questioned the basis of the SSC’s list, stating: “Even the Supreme Court could not clearly distinguish between eligible and ineligible candidates. We demand answers and direct dialogue with the Chief Minister.” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was, however, not present in the city at the time, having travelled to Digha earlier in the morning for the inauguration of the newly-constructed Jagannath Temple.
Meanwhile, Chinmoy Mondal, a prominent face of the Forum of Eligible Teachers, has finally been included in the West Bengal School Service Commission’s (WBSSC) ‘untainted’ list, days after his name was controversially omitted. Mondal confirmed the development on Monday, stating: “Names of all untainted teachers mistakenly left out are now being included. My salary submission process has begun.”
Mondal’s exclusion had particularly drawn attention, given his role as a convenor of the eligible teachers’ forum. Following a slew of complaints, the Commission undertook a review, admitting that anomalies had occurred due to reliance on outdated data. Corrections were initiated subsequently. According to Mondal, he was erroneously listed as “non-joining” despite having formally joined his appointed school immediately after receiving the appointment letter from the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education. WBSSC officials attributed the mistake to a “technical glitch,” now reportedly rectified.