Protesting teachers to take out rally to state secretariat on May 30

Kolkata, May 29 (PTI) A section of jobless teachers, who have been agitating before the state education headquarters for the past 22 days demanding they should not be forced to sit for fresh recruitment tests, on Thursday threatened to take out a 'maha michil' (giant rally) on May 30 to the state secretariat to press for their demands.

The protestors, belonging to 'Deserving Teachers Rights Forum', urged the state government to "not play with the lives of eligible teachers".

Forum spokesperson Chinmoy Mondal told reporters that "a big rally (maha michil)" will be taken out from Sealdah to Nabanna (state secretariat) on Friday where thousands of teaching-non-teaching employees will walk in 'semi-nude condition' to demand that eligible jobless teaching-non teaching staff should not be forced to sit for recruitment test again and the state makes a plea that the review petition filed on its behalf be taken up for hearing at the Supreme Court at the earliest." "The state should also ensure not a single deserving teacher, who has been victimised due to the WBSSC's irregularities in the appointment process, suffer and be immediately reinstated," he said.

Mondal claimed one of the jobless 'untainted' teachers, who had been under treatment due to kidney-related ailment,for long, on hearing about the CM's statement asking jobless teachers to sit for fresh recruitment tests, his condition deteriorated and he died in Nadia district.

The teacher Prabin Karmakar was of 35-years-old and he was attached to Amaipara Udbastu Vidyalaya at Jiaganj in Murshidabad district.

Mondal said, "We are not saying the main cause behind Prabin's untimely death is due to the CM's statement. But he was under treatment for a long time. He became very tense and stressed on hearing that he will have to sit for another round of recruitment test. Being the sole bread earner of his family, who has to bear the cost of his medical treatment as well, he could not bear the anxiety and stress any more and suffered cardiac arrest leading to his death," Mondal claimed.

On April 3, the Supreme Court invalidated the jobs of 25,753 teaching-non-teaching employees of government-aided schools in West Bengal.

The chief minister had earlier announced that the SSC's notification for recruitment to over 40,000 posts for teaching and non-teaching employees, including the around 25,753 jobs invalidated, will be issued by May 30 complying with the SC directive to SSC for issuing fresh recruitment process notification for the 2016 candidates by May 31. PTI SUS RG