West Bengal: Showcause notice to section of teachers protesting against job loss

Kolkata, May 21 (IANS) The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) has started issuing showcause notice to some “untainted” or “genuine” teachers protesting for quite a few days near the state education department headquarters at Salt Lake on the northern outskirts of the state capital after they lost jobs following a Supreme Court order last month.

The showcause notice has been issued to those protesting teachers who have been identified by the board as involved in vandalism within the complex of Bikash Bhavan, the state education department headquarters, on May 15.

In the show-cause notices, the board has mentioned the details of the charges brought against them. The teachers receiving the show-cause notices have been asked to reply to those within the next seven days.

Besides vandalism, these teachers have also been accused of forcefully "detaining" the state education department office till late hours on May 15.

In the late evening hours of May 15, a huge police contingent resorted to cane-charge on protesting teachers following which several teachers received severe head and body injuries.

A case was also filed at Calcutta High Court’s single-judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh accusing police of excesses, which came up for hearing on Wednesday.

After the hearing into the matter, Justice Ghosh said that the protesting teachers who have been summoned for questioning by Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate will have to appear for the same.

However, Justice Ghosh, at the same time, barred the police personnel from adopting any coercive action including arresting any teacher till further orders. Justice Ghosh also directed the protesting teachers to bring down the number of participants in the protest in front of Bikash Bhavan.

The main demand of the protesting teachers is that the state government and the West Bengal School Service Commission should immediately publish lists segregating "untainted" candidates from the "tainted" ones who secured jobs by paying money.

On April 3 this year, the Supreme Court upheld a previous order by the Calcutta High Court’s division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi cancelling 25,753 school jobs in West Bengal.

The apex court also accepted the observation of the Calcutta High Court that the entire panel of 25,753 candidates had to be cancelled because of the failure of the state government and the commission to segregate the “untainted" candidates from the "tainted" ones.

The state government and West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) have already filed review petitions at the apex court on this issue.

--IANS

src/pgh