West Bengal Teachers Vow Renewed Agitation As State Govt Refuses To Publish List Of 'Untainted' School Job Appointees

Kolkata: Protesting school teachers, who claim they are "eligible" in the Supreme Court-scrapped 2016 SSC recruitment panel, announced on Monday that they would be back on the streets before the end of this week "with enhanced intensity", after the state government turned down their demand to publish the certified list of "untainted appointees" from the discredited panel.

In a meeting with senior government officials held after the agitating teachers marched to the state secretariat 'Nabanna' and were stopped by the police near Howrah Maidan, a few kilometres ahead of their destination, the affected teachers had provided the state with an ultimatum to publish the list before the end of the day.

Despite initially announcing they would remain on the streets till the list is published, Mehboob Mondal, one of the leaders of the agitating teachers, called off the agitation for the day, after the government confirmed its inability to make the list public, but they promised to return with "more vigour and intensity".

"The state claims that it has been advised by its lawyers that publishing the list of untainted and tainted candidates would jeopradise their chances with their review petition in the Supreme Court.

"We have our lawyers, too, and they say that's not likely to happen. We are calling off our agitation for the day, but we will be back on the streets before the end of this week. And, we will make sure that the government is forced to listen," Mondal asserted.

A 20-member delegation of the protesters earlier held a nearly two-hour meeting with senior officials of the state education department that was briefly attended by Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and DGP Rajiv Kumar.

The teachers said the meeting, which was held at the Shipur Police Lines in Howrah instead of the secretariat where the protesters were headed demanding an audience with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, yielded "no concrete assurances" from the government's end.

The protesters were sharply critical of Pant for having spared "not more than 10 minutes" for the meeting and leaving early, citing "other urgent appointments" in his schedule.

"The government claims it is sympathetic towards the cause of candidates who secured their jobs through fair means. Yet, its actions so far prove that it is more inclined towards those who undertook fraudulent means to gain appointments. We have told them to first publish the certified list of all untainted candidates by tonight. We are not moving from the streets till that is done," said Chinmay Mondal, a protesting teacher.

Earlier in the day, a large number of "eligible and untainted" school teachers, whose appointments were annulled by the Supreme Court, scuffled with the West Bengal Police when their rally was stopped a few kilometres ahead of the secretariat.

The agitators, organised under the banner of 'Sikshak Adhikar Manch' (Teachers' Rights Forum), pushed and shoved against a human barricade set up by the personnel in uniform, leading to tension on the ground after protesters remained steadfast on reaching the secretariat and meeting the CM with their demands.

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.

The agitating teachers insisted on publication of OMR sheets of the 2016 School Service Commission exams, a complete list of tainted and untainted candidates, and an unconditional reinstatement of their jobs, among other demands.

A massive contingent of lathi-wielding police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel, armed with water cannons and overhead drone vigilance, were deployed to stop the advancing protesters.

Multiple iron-wall barricades, some as high as 10 feet, were also set up at various points leading to the secretariat. The marching agitators defied the route which the police initially wanted them to take and stuck to GT Road in their attempt to reach their destination.

"We will not sit for any exam. We have been wronged and it is the responsibility of the government to reinstate us with our salaries in our original positions," another protesting teacher said.

The Supreme Court, in April, had scrapped the entire panel of teaching and non-teaching positions of the 2016 SSC exams on the grounds that large-scale corruption had rendered the selection process "tainted and vitiated" beyond redemption, leading to the termination of nearly 26,000 jobs.

While the court ordered a fresh selection process for the vacant positions, it directed the state government and the SSC that eligible applicants will have to participate in the process from scratch, including appearing for fresh exams.

Both the SSC and the state have announced their plans to move review petitions before the top court, but the stakeholders have unsuccessfully argued in the high court for allowing identifie d tainted candidates, who resorted to unfair means to secure jobs, to participate in the fresh selection process as well.

"We are not afraid since we stand for truth. The chief minister has consistently stood behind the tainted candidates. That's why she is shying away from meeting us and using her police force to stop us from reaching her office," a protester added.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)