Latest news with #SchoolServiceCommission
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
RG Kar protests yielded some gains amid status quo in women's security in Bengal, say stakeholders
Kolkata, The more things change, the more they stay the same. RG Kar protests yielded some gains amid status quo in women's security in Bengal, say stakeholders At the turn of the year, since the brutal rape and murder of the 31-year-old post-graduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital shook the conscience of urban Bengal, stakeholders of protest movements that followed believe that this 19th-century French proverb may hold credence. "There are still no palpable measures that make us feel safe as women in the city's public places at night," said Rimjhim Sinha, social science researcher and activist who initiated the 'Reclaim the Night' mass movement in August last year, which dragged lakhs out of their homes seeking justice for the RG Kar victim. Sinha criticised the "hollowness" of the state government's promises made within hours of agitators hitting the streets at the stroke of midnight on August 14 last year, which included the deployment of 'Rattirer Sathi' on-duty women volunteers at night, safe zones for women with monitored CCTV coverage and launch of a special mobile app with alarm mechanism for working women. "I have never come across a 'Rattirer Sathi' volunteer on the road at night during the past year. I don't know of any other women who have," Sinha claimed. "I do not know how effective the mobile app has proved to be, but I can bet it is of no use to poor working women who do not use smartphones or carry cell phones," she said. Stressing that the government announcements remained confined "only on pen and paper with hardly any practical implementation", the activist questioned the state's "apathy" in making gender sensitivity and sex education modules compulsory in schools that would have made "the real difference". Sinha referred to the Mamata Banerjee government's initial response to those agitations for gender justice, where it recommended working women should be spared night duty, wherever possible. "It is a myth that women get assaulted by strangers outside their homes. Statistics confirm that most cases of sexual assaults are perpetrated by known people and in homes, be it in the form of domestic violence or marital rape," she argued. But not all is disappointing in the RG Kar crime aftermath. Sinha feels that women across Bengal are more emancipated now in overcoming hesitations to raise voices which the "Reclaim the Night" agitations have paved the way for. "I have met pregnant women and women carrying their infants who stood outside state School Service Commission office all night with job reinstatement demands. I have seen school children, girls all of 14-16 years, block roads in Sonarpur demanding that their broken road to school be mended. These, to me, are examples of women finding their own voices," she said. Women here do not wait for anyone to speak on their behalf anymore, they now want a say in decision-making processes, Sinha said, adding, "That's progress in itself". Leaders of the Junior Doctors Front – which spearheaded the agitation of the state's medical fraternity and held an initial 42-day 'cease work' strike in the wake of the RG Kar incident – said that although certain key demands remain unachieved, the protests yielded significant gains. "The resistance ensured that major heads rolled," said Aniket Mahata, one of the Front leaders. "While we believe that the convict Sanjoy Rai wasn't the only one involved in the crime and justice for Abhaya is yet to be fully served since the CBI hasn't submitted a supplementary chargesheet naming others, still we could force the state to hold a significant number of people accountable. As many as 11 high-ranking officials in the state's health and police departments were either removed or transferred," Mahata said. The doctor was referring to the removal of now-jailed ex-RG Kar principal Sandip Ghosh, and the transfer of top college authorities, health department brass like DME and DHS and then Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and DC in the aftermath of the crime. "Ghosh and others currently remain in jail for rampant corruption that prevailed in the health sector. Our sustained agitations helped expose the ongoing medical scam in the state," Mahata asserted. He said that the movement achieved only partial success in ensuring that a repeat of the horrible crime never happened in the state's institutions in future. "The intensity of measures to tighten campus security has subsided with time. CCTV cameras and rest rooms, which were supposed to be set up under Supreme Court monitoring aren't up to the required mark. The central referral and hospital bed monitoring systems, which worked marvelously for the first two months, seem to have now gone again to the cold store," the doctor said. "After all, the hospital authorities initially wanted to pass it off as 'suicide'. It's the people who held their spine erect and established that this was a crime most foul," he said. Author and analyst Maidul Islam said that more than the social impact, the protests had greater political significance. "I believe that the evils of patriarchy in Bengal's society exist pretty much in all their 'glory', despite the protests. Sexual assault incidents show no signs of ebbing, the latest crime inside the South Calcutta Law College campus is but an example," Islam said. "The impact may not lead to a regime change in the state, since this is still largely an urban middle-class phenomenon. But it has certainly revived the disappointment cycle in Bengal's society which has repeatedly popped up during all previous political regimes," he said. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Indian Express
29-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Mamata Govt moves Calcutta High Court against stay on monthly allowance to Group C, D school employees
The West Bengal Government has moved the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court in the case of providing allowance to the Group C and Group D staff of the School Service Commission (SSC) who lost their jobs following the Supreme Court order of April 3. A Supreme Court Bench dismissed 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff employed in state-run and state-aided schools on April 3, upholding a Calcutta High Court order. Following the setback, the Mamata Banerjee government announced an ex gratia of Rs 25,000 for Group C staff and Rs 20,000 for Group D with effect from April 1 until the review case was disposed of in the Supreme Court. The High Court stayed the government's decision in June. According to the Government, it has the right to grant allowance for the survival of the employees. After the announcement of the allowance, a section of job seekers, who were on the waiting list for appointment in School Service Commission in 2016, approached the High Court claiming that they were deprived of their right. Justice Amrita Sinha of the High Court Single Bench in June stayed the disbursal of monthly stipends announced for sacked Group C and Group D school employees whose appointments were nullified by the Supreme Court earlier this year. The Supreme Court, while terminating the appointments, cited a 'vitiated' recruitment process. On April 17, the court allowed 'untainted' teachers to continue until December with full salaries but denied similar relief to non-teaching staff, citing 'substantially high' irregularities in their recruitment. Justice Sinha, during the hearing, said, 'The state has decided to give allowances of Rs 25,000 and Rs 20,000. How were these figures determined? Will they get paid for sitting at home? For how long?' State Advocate General Kishore Dutta had told the court that the stipends had already begun to be disbursed from April 1. Justice Sinha responded, 'Why is the state in such a hurry? Certain protocols must be followed.'
Time of India
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
6 SSC teachers to visit CM's residence today
1 2 3 4 Kolkata: A group of six SSC teachers, who have lost their jobs following a Supreme Court order, will visit chief minister Mamata Banerjee 's residence on Thursday morning to submit a memorandum. The women, who are among those staging a protest outside Bikash Bhawan for 22 days, will seek CM's appointment to discuss their concerns. The revised rules of School Service Commission is likely to be issued on Thursday, a day before the gazette notification for the fresh examinations for state schools posts is released. The changes, aimed at bringing transparency in the school recruitment process, will include preservation of OMR copies, along with carbon images, for a longer period and increase in the validity of the panel The protesting teachers are still adamant in their stand against appearing for the recruitment examination, which chief minister Mamata Banerjee had on Tuesday urged them to take. One of the protesting teachers said, "We want to ask the CM that after working for 10 years, is it possible to start afresh by preparing for exams to get a govt job? Is it so easy at this stage, when we have so much responsibilities?" Following the CM's announcement on Tuesday, Mehebub Mandal, the convener of the eligible teachers' forum, said, "The CM's statements at the Netaji Indoor Stadium earlier and that on Tuesday contradicted each other. Those who bought their positions will be transferred to other departments, while we have to take another exam. We do not agree to appear for the exam." The protesting teachers, who have been sitting outside Bikash Bhawan, have also refused to shift to Central Park, despite an HC order.
Time of India
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Teachers from the 2016 state level selection test panel return amid confusion over final list
1 2 3 Kolkata: Teachers from the 2016 state-level selection test panel started returning to school as clear instructions from the school education department were sent to the schools, along with the list of 'untainted' teachers' names. However, there is still some confusion in the list, as several names, including that of Chinmoy Mandal, a prominent face of the movement, is missing from it. The state school education department has asked school heads to send a detailed report of how many teachers from the 2016 panel are in the respective schools. A format was sent to the district inspectors, asking them to fill in the name of the teacher, designation, SSC recommendation, appointment letter, employee code, and any transfers made during this period, which must be mentioned with details. The same report was requested for the staffers as well. Several untainted teachers who protested outside the School Service Commission office returned to school from Thursday after the district-wise list was published by the education department. Ishani Kundu, a life science teacher at a North 24 Parganas school, said, "Being a teacher, I love to take classes and interact with students, but the situation brought us to the street. I spent a wonderful moment at the school today, but unfortunately, the relief is only for a few months now. However, the condition of Group C and D staffers is very painful. I hope the entire issue is resolved soon." School heads expressed that they are quite relieved after seeing teachers join duties. Dumdum Aurobindo High School's Headmaster, Ashim Kumar Nanda, said, "Three teachers—one for political science and two for commerce—are from the 2016 SLST panel. Finally, they joined today. We have the only political science teacher in class XI-XII. The commerce department was running with only one teacher when the number of students was quite large." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Google Brain Co-Founder Andrew Ng, Recommends: Read These 5 Books And Turn Your Life Around Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List Undo Krishnachandrapur High School in South 24 Parganas has eight teachers from the 2016 panel, and many of them joined the school. School Headmaster Chandan Maiti said, "All the eight names are there in the list, but an extra name was included, which is strange. Not only in our school but in many schools where there is such confusion in the list, we want this to be resolved immediately." However, there is still a section that did not return to schools and is found at the protest site. Suman Biswas, a protesting teacher, said, "Major demands of uploading the mirror images of the OMR sheets are yet to be fulfilled. I am not satisfied with the list, as we heard a lot of anomalies in the list that need to be resolved soon." MSID:: 120588570 413 |
Time of India
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Tainted' vs ‘untainted' at stir site over classification
1 2 3 Kolkata: A group of teachers started a sit-in demonstration outside the School Service Commission office on Thursday, contesting their exclusion from the list and raising concerns about OMR disputes . They positioned themselves adjacent to an existing protest that had been ongoing for four days. The proximity of the two protest sites led to conflict between the two groups with members engaging in a confrontation regarding classification issues. "My name is not on the list as there was a dispute in the OMR. I don't know what happened. I did not give a single penny to anyone, but I am marked as tainted. Is this justice?" said Satabdi Sarkar, a Bengali teacher from Birbhum. Soma Sahu, another Bengali instructor from South 24 Parganas, raised concerns about the authenticity of mirror images. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata Subhajit Paul, who teaches history in North 24 Parganas, expressed distress about his exclusion from the list and subsequent instruction to cease attending school. He emphasised his compliance with all required procedures since joining in 2018. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trade Bitcoin & Ethereum – No Wallet Needed! IC Markets Start Now Undo The situation became chaotic when the group that had been protesting since Monday increased their volume on microphones and began chanting slogans, creating disruption at the demonstration site. Ritesh Ghosh, who organised a rally following the Supreme Court order, emphasised equality in protest rights, noting that all 26,000 educators faced job losses. Chimoy Mandal, a prominent protest leader, expressed surprise at police allowing another group to demonstrate at the same location, stating they had not created any divisions themselves.
