Bengal Delegation of jobless teachers non-teaching staff meets Speaker

Kolkata, Jun 18 (PTI) Representatives of West Bengal’s ‘untainted’ teaching and non-teaching staff, who lost their jobs after the Supreme Court scrapped the 2016 SSC recruitment, met Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee on Wednesday, demanding a special discussion in the House on their dismissal and possible legal steps for their reinstatement.
    A two-member delegation of affected candidates met Banerjee in his chamber in the presence of TMC Chief Whip Nirmal Ghosh and BJP MLA Manoj Oraon.
    "We spoke for nearly 40 minutes. The Speaker listened sympathetically and assured us he will do what’s needed to facilitate a discussion in the House," said Suman Biswas, one of the delegation members.
    Biswas said, "We are happy with the outcome of the discussion with the Speaker. He has assured to initiate the process by June 23".
    The Supreme Court had on April 3 invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and other staff in state-run and state-aided schools in West Bengal, terming their selection process "vitiated and tainted" due to large-scale irregularities in the process.
    The state government began a fresh recruitment process on May 29, just before the SC deadline, and notified over 40,000 new posts.
    However, many affected candidates under the Deserving Teachers Rights Forum are demanding permanent reinstatement without having to appear for another exam.
    "Yes, they (protesting teachers) approached me and narrated their issues. I have told them we will sympathetically look into their demand," the Speaker said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)