Kolkata: Carrying a replica of the West Bengal state secretariat 'Nabanna' and placards, hundreds of jobless school teachers and serving state government employees marched through the streets of Howrah on Monday, demanding reinstatement of jobs and a hike in dearness allowance (DA).
The rally was organised by the 'Sangrami Joutho Manch', a joint platform of jobless school teachers and state government employees.
With police putting up two tall steel barricades at Foreshore Road to restrict their movement, the rallyists squatted on the road, asserting that they would not leave until Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressed their demands.
Manch convenor Ashis Khamrui, who was among those on the forefront of the rally, said "Our demands include reinstatement of 26,000 teachers who were rendered jobless following the Supreme Court order and immediate recruitment in primary-upper primary levels." "We had been protesting in central Kolkata's Sahid Minar area for the past three years. We are prepared to sit here on the road indefinitely if our demands are not met," he added.
Ashis Banerjee, a state government employee, said the state had failed to hike DA as per the recent Supreme Court order. "Now, they are citing a Calcutta High Court directive about our rally - but the court never disallowed the rally. It only said the protest shouldn't obstruct public places like Mangala Haat," he added.
As senior police officers tried to persuade the protestors to disperse and return to their respective places, the protestors remained defiant.
"We will be forced to take steps as no permission has been granted for assembly of people by Calcutta High Court in Howrah city area. Please abide by the law," a police officer announced over a loudspeaker.
The announcement seemed to have little impact on the protestors as they squatted on the road while personnel of police, RAF stood nearby.
Howrah SP Praveen Tripathi had earlier said the Calcutta High Court did not allow the 'Nabanna Abhijan' (march to Nabanna), and the police would follow the court's directive.
The manch, however, claimed that the HC had instructed that the rally should not affect the businessmen of Mangala Haat.
The route of the proposed rally won't be anywhere near the weekly marketplace, which is organised every Tuesday, he added.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
