Daijiworld Media Network – Kolkata
Kolkata, May 19: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday took a firm stand on the ongoing agitation by teachers whose appointments were cancelled, stating that while she respected the right to protest, there were limits that must not be crossed.
“I am not against agitations. However, there is a Lakshman Rekha (red line). Just like I can’t stop anyone, nobody can stop me either. Instead of agitating, they should fight their case in court. We will support them, we are already doing that,” Banerjee said, referring to the alleged vandalism outside the state education department’s Salt Lake office on May 15.
The incident saw hundreds of staff and visitors, including a pregnant woman, trapped inside the building from 11 am to 8:30 pm. Nineteen police personnel were injured in stone-pelting during the evacuation, and several protesters were hurt in a baton charge.
Her comments came shortly after the West Bengal police summoned three teachers identified via CCTV footage. None appeared before the investigating officers. Chinmoy Mondal, one of the protest leaders, said, “We are consulting our lawyers. In fact, the police should summon all 25,752 teachers and staff from the 2016 panel whose jobs were struck down by the Supreme Court.”
Banerjee expressed concern about alleged outsiders involved in the protest. “A pregnant woman was locked in for hours. A girl appearing for an exam jumped from the building in panic and had to be hospitalized,” she said. Mondal, however, clarified that those termed "outsiders" were the relatives of the protesting staff showing solidarity. “We’ve apologized for any inconvenience caused. It was not our intention,” he added.
The chaos stems from the Supreme Court’s April 3 ruling that cancelled all appointments made through the 2016 School Service Commission panel, stating it was impossible to separate tainted from untainted selections in the bribe-for-job scam.
Earlier in 2023, the Calcutta High Court had invalidated these appointments, which the state government challenged. While upholding the cancellation, the apex court gave a temporary reprieve allowing clean candidates to continue until December 31, 2024, and asked the government to begin a fresh recruitment process by May 31.
The May 15 protest was to press for the retention of non-tainted teachers without facing a fresh selection test — a condition most are unwilling to accept.
The job scam, which rocked the education sector, dates back to appointments made between 2014 and 2021 during Partha Chatterjee’s tenure as education minister. Investigations revealed bribes of ?5–15 lakh were allegedly paid for appointments. The CBI and Enforcement Directorate arrested Chatterjee in July 2022. In January 2024, the ED filed charges against him, former Primary Education Board chief Manik Bhattacharya, and 52 others.
Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), Jawed Shamim, said that teachers involved in vandalism and attacks on police would be identified and charged.