India News | BJP MP Cancels Meeting with Minister over School Job Issue Following Lathi-charge on Protestors
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Calcutta High Court judge-turned-BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay on Wednesday cancelled his scheduled meeting with West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu over the school job crisis in the state, citing police lathi-charge on protestors during the day.
Kolkata, Apr 9 (PTI) Calcutta High Court judge-turned-BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay on Wednesday cancelled his scheduled meeting with West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu over the school job crisis in the state, citing police lathi-charge on protestors during the day.
Basu expressed his disappointment at the failed appointment, saying he waited for Gangopadhyay but he did not turn up.
"I cancelled my meeting with the education minister to protest against the brutal lathi-charge on qualified teachers. The government has failed to protect the deserving candidates. I was supposed to submit a letter to the minister but I have torn it up in protest," the BJP MP told reporters outside Bikash Bhavan, the education department headquarters.
Gangopadhyay was scheduled to hand over a letter, addressed to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, to Basu about the former judge's suggestions on forming a committee which will help find a mechanism to save the jobs of "eligible teachers" who became unemployed following a Supreme Court order last week.
"I waited for him. But I was informed that he will not come for the meeting," Basu told reporters, expressing disappointment over the missed opportunity for the dialogue.
The Supreme Court on April 3 upheld a 2024 Calcutta High Court judgment annulling the recruitment of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff appointed through the 2016 School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment drive, terming the entire selection process "vitiated and tainted".
Those who were rendered jobless claimed that the reason behind their plight was the inability of the SSC to differentiate between the candidates who secured employment through fraudulent means and those who did not.
Gangopadhyay said the scheduled meeting was not possible when the protestors who lost their jobs were staging a demonstration at the District Inspector (DI) of the school office in Kasba area of the city.
The BJP MP said, "When we were in a meeting with the SSC chairman, calls came in from the assaulted teachers. How can a peaceful plan be discussed when the state government is torturing peaceful protestors?"
A section of teachers and non-teaching staff who lost their jobs scuffled with the police outside the DI office in south Kolkata on Wednesday.
The protesters alleged that police personnel resorted to baton charge, apart from some of the law enforcers kicking and shoving them around to disperse them.
When asked about the police action, Basu questioned the motive behind the protest.
He asked, "After the meeting with the chief minister (Mamata Banerjee) and the subsequent meeting plans with us, why are such protests continuing?"
Banerjee had held a meeting with those who lost their jobs on Monday, asserting that her government will ensure they don't remain jobless or have a break in service.
Basu reiterated that the state government stands by the affected teachers and is exploring legal avenues.
"The state will seek clarification and move a review petition in consultation with legal advice," he said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)