Three teachers continue hunger strike outside School Service Commission office in Kolkata

Three teachers continue hunger strike outside West Bengal SSC office, demanding publication of 'untainted' job holders list.

Three aggrieved teachers are continuing with their hunger strike outside the West Bengal School Service Commission office, even as their peers have shifted base after the government’s assurance on April 11. 

The three teachers are among the 26,000 people who lost their jobs after the Supreme Court order last week which annulled the jobs of thousands of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government schools. 

The teachers who have refused to give up their hunger strike are Suman Biswas, Pratap Kumar Saha, and Pankaj Ray. Some of their peers are also conducting a sit-in demonstration at the site in solidarity with the fasting teachers. 

This comes after the State Education Minister Bratya Basu met with 12 representatives of the 26,000 people who lost their jobs overnight. The government assured the protestors on April 11 that a list of ‘tainted’, and ‘untainted’ candidates will be published by April 21 after proper legal consultation. 

One of the fasting teachers Suman Biswas, “A list of untainted and deserving candidates are already present with the SSC, ask them to publish it, we will immediately call off the hunger strike.” He added that till the time their demands are not met, they will not stop their fast. 

“Government is only giving us false assurances in the name of meetings. They keep changing their stance every second day,” Mr. Biswas further added. Their fast entered their third day on April 12 and the fourth day for their sit-in demonstration. 

After the government’s assurance on April 11, the other thousands of teachers who were conducting a sit-in demonstration outside the SSC office have moved back to their usual protest site near Sahid Minar in Kolkata’s Esplanade area. The protesting teachers said that they do not want to cause any hindrance in the lives of the common people hence their decision to shift back, but they have also refused to stop their movement till the official list of “untainted” job holders is published.