On Martyrs' Day in Bengal, sacked teachers head to Delhi to highlight ‘plight'
With the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning Monday, over 200 teachers under the banner of Joggo Shikshak Shikshika Adhikar Mancha are travelling to the capital to press their demands. They boarded trains from Howrah, Sealdah and Malda, and plan to hold four days of demonstrations in Delhi.
Mehboob Mandal, a representative of the group, said, 'We who got our jobs by sitting for the exams are now being punished for the government's mistake. They are observing Martyrs' Day, but I am becoming a martyr for their mistakes. That is what we are highlighting by leaving for Delhi on July 21.'
The teachers plan to distribute leaflets during their train journey and, once in Delhi, submit memoranda to the President, the Prime Minister's Office, the Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition, and other Members of Parliament. They have also planned a mass convention with teachers and professors, and will distribute posters and leaflets to raise awareness.
Last week, thousands of 'untainted' teachers — whose appointments were cancelled by the top court in the wake of the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment 'scam' — were stopped from marching to Nabanna, the state secretariat, where they had sought a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Police had sealed off the area with iron barricades, but a 20-member delegation was allowed to meet Chief Secretary Manoj Pant at Shibpur police lines. Pant, along with DGP Rajeev Kumar and other senior officials, received a list of demands from the protesters.
The April 17 Supreme Court verdict annulled the appointment of nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff in state-run and aided schools, citing irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process and labelling it 'tainted.' The court, however, later declared 15,403 teachers 'untainted.'
Members of the delegation said they were dissatisfied with the outcome of the meeting with the Chief Secretary and alleged that the government has yet to provide a solution.
The Jogya Shikshak Shikshika Adhikar Mancha, which represents the 'untainted' candidates, has been demanding reinstatement without requiring them to sit for the recruitment exam again, and for publication of the list of eligible and ineligible candidates.
Recently, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court comprising Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das De dismissed an appeal filed by the state government and the SSC seeking to allow 'tainted' candidates to participate in the fresh recruitment process. The order upheld an earlier directive from a single-judge bench barring those candidates.
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an hour ago
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Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category Public Policy Technology Finance Data Science Data Science Product Management Degree Leadership Artificial Intelligence others MBA Digital Marketing CXO healthcare Others Data Analytics PGDM Healthcare Management Project Management Operations Management Design Thinking Cybersecurity MCA Skills you'll gain: Economics for Public Policy Making Quantitative Techniques Public & Project Finance Law, Health & Urban Development Policy Duration: 12 Months IIM Kozhikode Professional Certificate Programme in Public Policy Management Starts on Mar 3, 2024 Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 12 Months IIM Calcutta Executive Programme in Public Policy and Management Starts on undefined Get Details "The situation in the state of Himachal Pradesh has gone from bad to worse," a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan observed on July 28. 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Revenue cannot be earned at the cost of environment and ecology,' the court said. It blamed human activity—rather than nature—for worsening disasters such as landslides, land subsidence, and road collapses. 'It is not right to blame only nature for the disaster in Himachal Pradesh. Humans, not nature, are responsible for phenomenon such as continuous land sliding of mountains and soil, landslides on roads, collapsing of houses and buildings, subsidence of road etc.' The court identified unchecked infrastructure development—including hydropower projects, four-lane highways, multi-storey constructions, and deforestation—as the major causes of environmental degradation. Climate change, tourism, and unchecked construction The top court also pointed to the increasing impact of climate change in the region, including shifting snowfall patterns, rising temperatures, and more frequent extreme weather events. These changes, it noted, have serious implications for farming, horticulture, and eco-tourism in the state. "With forests encompassing more than 66 per cent of the total land area, Himachal Pradesh is renowned for its abundant beauty and greenery. But the danger to this natural richness is growing as a result of human greed and apathy,' the bench said. While acknowledging that hydropower is a renewable and low-carbon energy source, the court warned of its environmental costs. 'Large-scale construction of dams, reservoirs, and tunnels comes with considerable environmental costs,' it said. The court also flagged other contributing factors such as forest fires, encroachments, overgrazing, and urban expansion. It noted that the surge in tourism, while a key economic driver, has strained the state's fragile ecosystem. 'If left unchecked, the pressure from tourism could severely undermine the ecological and social fabric of the state.' 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