Didi to West Bengal Teachers: Return to Your Job

Kolkata: As the siege by hundreds of thousands of jobless school teachers of West Bengal continues at the School Service Commission (SSC) office in Salt Lake over the release of “eligible” candidates, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday appealed to them to return to their workplace.

She also assured them of providing them salaries and saving their jobs legally by fighting the verdict of the Supreme Court that recently cancelled their appointments, totalling 25,753, in a 2016 recruitment scam. The CM further informed that she would visit Murshidabad next month in wake of the communal riots during the anti-Waqf law agitation at Jangipur.

Ms Banerjee said at an event in Goaltore of West Midnapore, “You don’t need to worry about who is eligible and who is not. You only need to worry about whether you have your job and whether you are getting your salaries on time. The list to identify the eligible and ineligible teachers remains with the government and the court.”

She added, “We assure that your jobs are safe for now. You will get your salaries. Please return to your schools and resume classes. We are with you. I called our people in Kolkata at least 10 times since last evening. If I were there, I could have solved the issue in a second.”

The CM pointed out, “I had talks over the phone till midnight. What I understand is that some people are still adamant for a list to mark who is ‘eligible’ and who is ‘ineligible’. Don’t believe those who snatched your jobs. Trust me. I don’t want to see any unemployed person in my state. They have filed another case on primary teachers’ recruitment.”

Trinamul Congress supremo asserted that a review petition for the Group C and Group D employees, who lost their jobs, would be filed at the SC. On the Murshidabad visit, she said, “I will visit the troubled areas in the first week of May.”