Bengal’s ‘untainted’ non-teaching staff in limbo as Supreme Court only offers relief to teachers

Non-teaching staff in West Bengal schools left in limbo after Supreme Court ruling, protesting for job security.

Kolkata 

Non-teaching staff in State run schools of West Bengal who lost their appointment after Supreme Court order on April 3 have been left in lurch after the apex court allowed ‘untainted’ teachers to continue till end of year, but the non-teaching staff got no respite. Thousands of staff are facing an uncertain future and feel betrayed in the whole process. 

The non-teaching staff have come together under the banner of “Untainted Group C and D Rights Forum” and hundreds of them have been conducting a sit-in demonstration outside the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) office at Karunamoyee crossing in Salt Lake. 

Eight representatives of the non-teaching staff met with the WBBSE authorities on April 21 to discuss their future and pleaded with them to let the ‘untainted’ staff continue their duties like the ‘untainted’ teachers, but no resolution was reached. These eight members have been sitting on an indefinite hunger strike ever since the meeting ended. They are reportedly also refusing to drink water. One of the members, Kaushik Mondal fell ill on April 23 and was rushed to the Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital for treatment. 

Amit Mondal, a group C staff of Dum Dum Bapuji Colony Adarsha Buniadi Vidya Mandir said that the authorities did not try to negotiate with the Supreme Court on their behalf to help the court understand their plight. 

“We will not move from here till the authorities meet us and ensure our job safety. The teaching and non-teaching staff have been fighting this battle together for years. But now they are drawing a wedge between us. Maybe this will help the authorities break our movement,” Mr Amit Mondal told The Hindu. 

The aggrieved non-teaching staff complaint that they are being treated as dispensable. Many have loans to repay and families to feed. “We help run the schools, some of our colleagues also take classes when enough teachers are not available.” Mr Mondal said.