West Bengal: Why teachers continue to protest after assurance from education minister

 The protesters have vowed to continue the demonstration until their demands are fulfilled and they are reinstated with dignity.

The Week, April 12, 2025 : Despite a three-hour meeting with West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu, during which they were assured that a list of qualified candidates and mirror images of OMR sheets would be made public, dismissed teachers and non-teaching staff continued their protests.

While the assurance provided some relief, uncertainty about their reinstatement remains. Following Friday’s meeting, also attended by West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) president Ramanuj Ganguly, SSC chairman Siddhartha Majumder and several other state government officials, the protesters began their sit-in at the base of the Gandhi statue near Shahid Minar in Esplanade on Saturday.

They have vowed to continue the demonstration until their demands are fulfilled and they are reinstated with dignity. The protest is being led by the Jogyo Shikshak Shikshika Odhikar Mancha (Qualified Teacher Rights Platform), which had representatives attend the meeting with the minister.

In addition to the Kolkata protest, the group is planning a demonstration in Delhi. Starting April 16, around 150 terminated teachers and staff members are expected to protest at Jantar Mantar, for which they have reportedly secured permission.

On the other hand, three dismissed teachers have been on a relay hunger strike outside the SSC office since Thursday. Their protest drew visits from several senior BJP figures, including former Calcutta High Court Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay. This led the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) to label the demonstration as politically influenced.

“Those who came to meet us clearly stated that none of them were participating in the hunger strike. A small section among them, who are on strike, are affiliated with a political party. Still, I hold no anger toward them,” Basu told the media following his meeting with teachers who lost jobs.

While requesting the opposition to not politicise the issue, the minister stated that he agreed in principle with the terminated candidates' demands but stressed that action depends on legal consultation due to a Supreme Court order. The government plans to release the eligible candidates' list and OMR ‘mirror images’ within two weeks.