Bengal school job loss: Protesting teachers vow to intensify stir, stay put outside SSC office

Thousands of teachers, whose appointments were annulled following a Supreme Court verdict, on Tuesday vowed to intensify their stir, as they continued the overnight protests outside the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) headquarters in Salt Lake.

The agitators were among nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff whose appointments were invalidated by the apex court on April 3, citing "widespread irregularities" in the 2016 recruitment drive.

Braving the scorching sun, the protesters numbering over 2,000 surrounded the WBSSC headquarters, denying entry and exit of officials, including its chairman Siddhartha Majumdar, who has been inside the building since last evening.

The agitating teachers have been demanding that the commission publish the list of candidates who were recruited on the basis of merit, and those who got appointments by allegedly paying bribes.

"We have realised we have nothing more to lose. This agitation will only end with justice - not another promise, not another lie," asserted one of the protesters.

"We will not let any food item enter the SSC building. If we are forced to starve on the streets under the open sky, those sitting inside air-conditioned rooms should also feel the heat," said another agitator, as more barricades were put up around the commission premises and security was tightened.

The protesters banged empty bottles and raised slogans for justice, accusing the commission of "consistently lying" and terming state Education Minister Bratya Basu's assurances "betrayal in the disguise of legal advice".

A delegation of eight teachers who had gone to meet the chairman was still inside the building and continuing their sit-in without any food, a protester claimed.

"A woman protester had earlier fainted in this heat, but she insists she will not budge until justice is delivered," he said.

Another sacked teacher said: "I have served for seven years. Now, all of a sudden I have been deemed 'undeserving'. My daughter needs regular kidney treatment. I have nothing left to save her."

Earlier, state Education Minister Bratya Basu had said that the list of "deserving and undeserving" candidates would be published in two weeks.

The protests outside the SSC building erupted after the commission failed to publish the list by Monday evening, even after another round of meeting with representatives of the teachers.

SSC Chairman Siddhartha Majumdar, in a late-night statement on Monday, said the commission will abide by the apex court directives and ensure "the (jobless) teachers having rendered services will be given salary".

Making no mention about posting the list of all "tainted/untainted" candidates as per the April 21 deadline, Majumdar said: "In respect of the matter of recruitment of teachers in 2016, it is made clear that SSC will abide by the orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court."

"It is informed by the department that the salary of teachers who have rendered services will be disbursed according to existing system," he said in the statement.

Meanwhile, Basu urged the agitating teachers to wait till the state government files a review petition with the Supreme Court.

He also said late on Monday that legal experts have advised against publishing such a list.

BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay, however, alleged that Basu was attempting to misguide the teachers.

"What the candidates are demanding is transparency in the recruitment process. Differentiating tainted and untainted candidates will not invite any contempt of court charge. I call upon the teachers not to leave the path of peaceful agitation till they get justice," he said.

The West Bengal Junior Doctors Front, which had been at the forefront of the movement to demand justice for the RG Kar hospital rape and murder victim in 2024, has also pledged solidarity with the protesting teachers.