The protest by unemployed qualified teachers in West Bengal intensified as a fresh hunger strike to death began opposite Vikas Bhavan late Thursday night. A 10-member delegation from the forum of the Unemployed Qualified Teachers’ Rights Movement is now on an indefinite hunger strike, reigniting demands for transparency, justice and immediate government intervention in the recruitment of school teachers through the SSC (School Service Commission).
The protest, which started at midnight on June 12, is based on five key demands — three long-standing ones and two additional ones introduced in response to recent legal and administrative developments. The new demands include a direct dialogue with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and a plea for reconsideration of the Supreme Court’s verdict, which terminated the 2016 recruitment panel comprising more than 26,000 teachers and non-teaching staffs.
On Thursday, members of the movement staged a symbolic march from Karunamoyee to the SSC office in Salt Lake, raising slogans and reiterating their demands. Upon reaching the premises, they sat in peaceful protest.
Simultaneously, a 12-member delegation went to Vikas Bhavan, which houses education ddepartment’s headquarters, and held a two-hour-long meeting with SSC Chairman Siddharth Majumdar. However, the outcome of the meeting left the teachers disappointed.
“We spoke at length, but the chairman offered no clarity or assurance. There is no ray of hope,” said Rakesh Alam, a protesting teacher who has qualified in the state-conducted teacher recruitment exam but remains unemployed.
The protesting teachers’ demands include transparent recruitment, time-bound legal process, OMR and certificate disclosure Chief Minister’s intervention and reconsideration of Supreme Court verdict.
The protest comes at a time when the state education sector continues to reel under the weight of unresolved teacher recruitment issues. With allegations of irregularities in previous recruitments and court-ordered cancellations thousands of qualified candidates now find themselves in limbo, jobless despite clearing the official recruitment tests.
Sources within the protest movement indicated that if no action is taken soon, more teachers may join the hunger strike, potentially escalating the crisis. Several civil society groups and student organisations have also expressed solidarity with the protesting teachers.
As the hunger strike enters its crucial phase, all eyes are now on the state administration and the SSC to see whether meaningful intervention will follow— or whether the deadlock will deepen further, prolonging the agony of West Bengal’s unemployed yet qualified educators.
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