The untainted teachers and non-teaching staff who have lost their jobs due to the cancellation of the 2016 West Bengal School Service Commission panel have expressed their wish to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Alipurduar on Thursday.
PM Modi will lay the foundation stone of a City Gas Distribution (CGD) projects worth Rs 1,010 crore for Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts. He is also likely to hold a political rally with all the senior Bengal BJP leaders present.
The untainted candidates have been protesting since the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Court verdict of cancelling the 2016 SSC panel. They demand immediate reinstatement to their original positions without having to appear in any fresh recruitment process.
A section of them is already in Alipurduar where they met the BJP’s Alipuruduars MP, Manoj Tigga, and submitted a memorandum, requesting a five minutes meeting with PM Modi. Reportedly, they have also held discussions with the district magistrate and the zilla parishad sabhadhipati.
Speaking about the request to meet the prime minister, one of the teachers from Alipurduar who lost her job told the media, “We have been trying for several days to get an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We are asking for just five minutes of his time.”
Despite their appeal, the qualified candidates have been careful not to politicise their efforts. A protester based in Kolkata emphasized that their demand is not limited to the Prime Minister. “We also want to meet the President and the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission,” he said.
He also reiterated the untainted candidates’ demand for meetings with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Education Minister Bratya Basu.
Meanwhile, Alipurduar is abuzz with preparations ahead of PM Modi’s visit. Banners and hoardings featuring his image and highlighting the success of “Operation Sindoor” have been put up across the town.
The CGD project he will inaugurate is expected to provide Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to over 2.5 lakh households and set up 19 CNG stations, contributing to a cleaner and cost-effective energy ecosystem in the region.
