A section of the West Bengal schoolteachers who lost their jobs when the Supreme Court upheld the invalidation of 25,753 teacher appointments over irregularities in the recruitment process is planning to file a review petition as well as to meet President Droupadi Murmu with an appeal for reinstatement.
The Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, which recently upheld a Calcutta High Court verdict annulling the recruitment conducted by School Service Commission, has also ordered the TMC government to initiate a fresh selection process.
Meanwhile, those who lost their jobs because of alleged corruption in different SSC examinations have unitedly announced a Nabanna Abhiyan on April 21, which they will withdraw if Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee meets them by April 15.
Sangita Saha, who is among the teachers who lost their jobs, said, “After the Calcutta High Court order, we formed an organisation named ‘Jogyo Shikshak Ebong Shikshika Odhikar Moncha’ and we fought in the Supreme Court but lost.”
She added, “We are planning to file a review petition in the Supreme Court, but before that we want to see what decision the state government and the School Service Commission are taking. If they stay rigid on their stands, the Supreme Court will give the same verdict again. Then there is no point in filing a review petition.”
According to its members, the Jogyo Shikshak Ebong Shikshika Odhikar Moncha is not a political organisation but is reaching out to all parties to find a legitimate solution to save their jobs.
Saha said, “We met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Saturday and appealed to him to meet the President on our behalf. He assured us that he will do it and fight for our cause.”
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“The School Service Commission should seek the opinion of Bikash Bhattacharya, Firdaus Shamim or Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who know this case. We will also go to the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Monday to ask the chief minister what her government is doing about us. Is her government ready to rectify their stands?” she said.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd