The Bidhannagar North Police in Kolkata have summoned fifteen teachers who were protesting in front of Bikash Bhavan, the headquarters of the state education department, regarding job losses. The teachers have been asked to appear at the police station by May 21, 2025. According to the police, the teachers are being summoned for allegedly damaging government property and obstructing public servants from performing their duties during clashes that occurred on Thursday.
The summons follow a recent Supreme Court ruling that annulled the appointments of over 25,000 teaching and non-teaching staff who were recruited through the 2016 West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) examinations. The court deemed the recruitment process "vitiated and tainted." This verdict has led to widespread protests by teachers who lost their jobs.
The teachers, under the banner of Jogya Shikshak Shikshika Adhikar Mancha (JSSAM), have been staging a sit-in protest outside Bikash Bhavan. They are demanding reinstatement and have refused to sit for any further examinations. Chinmoy Mondal, a representative of the teachers' forum, stated that they are seeking legal counsel and that all the teachers would accompany those who have been summoned to the police station in a show of support.
According to a senior police officer from the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate, 21 police personnel were injured during the clashes on May 15, 2025, including one officer who suffered a fractured nose and broken teeth. The police have filed a suo motu case regarding the clashes, accusing the protesting teachers of destroying public property and obstructing government officials. The police also stated that the protesting teachers threw bricks and bottles, and forensic reports will be examined to determine whether the injuries were caused by the lathi charge or the items hurled during the protests.
The protesting teachers are also demanding that the state government take legal and administrative measures to reinstate them in their jobs immediately and want their representation and views to be accommodated in the special review petition to be filed by the State Government in the Supreme Court.
