Kolkata, May 27 (PTI) Agitating teachers, who have lost their jobs following the Supreme Court order on April 3, on Tuesday said they feel "disappointed and shattered" over the appeal by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to sit for fresh recruitment test.
The CM on Tuesday said her government will start the fresh recruitment process of teachers as per the Supreme Court directive, while simultaneously pursuing a review petition seeking reinstatement of those who lost their jobs.
Banerjee said the teachers who lost their jobs will be given the benefit of their experience and age relaxation in the fresh recruitment process, the notification for which will be issued by May 31.
A member of the Deserving Teachers Rights Forum, which had been spearheading the agitation, told reporters they did not see any ray of hope in the CM's statement and felt shattered.
"The state government by asking us to sit for fresh recruitment test has virtually signed the death warrant for eligible teaching and non-teaching staff who were invalidated by the SC order. We had apprehension that the government is forcing us to sit for the test again and our apprehensions turned out to be true," the teacher Brindaban Ghosh told a press meet here.
There is a tendency to escape responsibility by declaring dates of online application, counselling, etc before waiting for the review petition to be heard, he said..
Another forum member Habibur Rahman said, "There is only one option - this government should make a serious attempt to expedite the process of hearing the review petition. The government has the role and responsibility to protect the interest of untainted jobless teaching and non-teaching staff. We did not find the words of the CM reassuring enough."
"If we have to sit for competitive exams and qualify, what will be the syllabus for the exams? Will we have to sit along with our students of the 2018-19 and later batches who will also apply for exams?," Rahman asked.
He said the CM's promise about age relaxation and giving weightage to working experience "don't cut much ice as we cannot start the process after all these years for preparing for the tests, which has been opened to candidates much younger than us."
Another teacher Poulomi Dey, who had been sitting on dharna before the state education headquarters Bikash Bhavan for the past 21 days along with other forum members, told PTI that "It is not clear why we are being asked to sit for the exams to prove our abilities for the second time."
"The CM has talked about age relaxation and giving weightage to our experience in all these years. But is it possible to prepare for the exams while attending classes till December? Had it been 2018, just years after I had got the job, I would have given it a thought. Not possible any more. I am totally at a loss," Dey said.
Another eligible teacher said he had qualified in the SSC exams as an "eligible" candidate under OBC quota. "Now the CM's announcement does not shed light on the OBC quota and general category segment issue.
"The CM talked about opening the exams for all. That is akin to nullifying our demand for permanent reinstatement of all eligible teachers," he said.
Addressing a press conference, Banerjee said "We want all those teachers who lost their jobs to get their jobs back. But we also have to follow the Supreme Court directive on issuing the notification by May 31."
"Both the review petition and the process of issuing the notification will go on simultaneously," she said.
Banerjee's statement came amid massive protests by the teaching and non-teaching staff of state-backed schools, who lost their jobs because of an SC order in the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam.
Announcing relief for the teachers who lost their jobs, Banerjee said, "Age will not be a barrier. Those who lost their jobs will be allowed to sit for the exam even if they have crossed the usual age limit. They will also receive the benefit of their experience."
The appointments of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff of state-aided schools were invalidated by the Supreme Court, which termed the recruitment process in 2016 test "vitiated and tainted". The apex court had mandated the WBSSC to start a fresh recruitment process by issuing notification before May 31 and complete the process by December 31.