Protesting teachers to hold meeting with Bengal education department officials on May 26

Agitating teachers meet officials to discuss job reinstatement after Supreme Court order, amid ongoing protests in West Bengal.

A six-member delegation of agitating teachers, who have lost their jobs following a recent Supreme Court order, will meet West Bengal education department officials on Monday (May 26, 2025) to find a solution to the impasse, one of the protesters said.

State Education Minister Bratya Basu is unlikely to attend the meeting, officials said.

The members of the Deserving Teachers' Rights Forum will meet the officials at Bikash Bhavan, the headquarters of the education department, in Salt Lake area, after the government decided to initiate talks with them, a protester said.

Senior education department officials will hold a discussion with the protesting teachers around 1 p.m., he said.

The protesting teachers have been staging a sit-in for several days near Bikash Bhavan, demanding that they be reinstated in their jobs. They also refused to take part in a fresh recruitment exam as mandated by the top court.

"We have been demanding that the deserving teachers be reinstated in their jobs. We are also requesting the government to take steps so that we do not have to write a fresh exam. We will try to understand the government's position on the fresh recruitment exam notification, which, as per the court's directive, must be issued by May 31," a protesting teacher said ahead of the meeting.

Another protester said, "We are also exploring all legal options to retain our jobs." Mr. Basu had on Sunday urged the agitators to repose faith in the government, assuring them that all legal steps were being explored to find a solution to the impasse.