A group of teachers and non-teaching staff, recently dismissed from service after the Supreme Court invalidated their appointments, launched a relay hunger strike today, Thursday, April 10, outside the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) headquarters in Salt Lake, said a report by PTI.
The apex court had earlier upheld a Calcutta High Court ruling that declared the 2016 SSC recruitment process flawed and “completely tainted,” leading to the annulment of 25,753 jobs in government and aided schools across the state.
The protest began with one teacher initiating the hunger strike, with others expected to join in succession.
The demonstrators had already started an overnight sit-in at the SSC office building, Acharya Sadan, on Wednesday, April 9, expressing both their distress over losing their jobs and outrage over police action taken against fellow protesters a day earlier.
According to the aggrieved individuals, law enforcement resorted to force, including lathi charges, at the district inspector (DI) of schools' office in Kasba, where some of their colleagues had gathered on Wednesday.
“We were manhandled, pushed, and even kicked by the police,” one protester alleged.
FIRs have reportedly been filed against several of the protesting teachers, further deepening tensions.
Former Calcutta High Court judge and now BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who had earlier passed the order calling for a CBI probe into the irregularities, visited the protest site today, April 10, alongside former Rajya Sabha MP Rupa Ganguly, to express solidarity.
Gangopadhyay held the state government and its administrative arms accountable for the situation.
“These teachers have been punished for the wrongdoings of others. Cases should not have been lodged against them,” he said.
Notably, Gangopadhyay skipped a meeting with Education Minister Bratya Basu on Wednesday, citing the state’s crackdown on protestors as the reason, added PTI.
