WB: ABTA and ABPTA Call Raj Bhavan Abhiyan Protesting Against Corruption in Teacher Recruitment Scam

Kolkata: “Even during the Left Front government, teachers marched with various demands. But never had to be a victim of police torture. And now the teachers who are teaching the children of the police personnel are being beaten up by the police. It is not possible to get back the respect of teachers without the change of this government.” ABTA general secretary Sukumar Pain said this after the police stopped the Raj Bhavan Abhiyan on the call of the All Bengal Teacher’s Association (ABPTA) in Kolkata on Friday.

All Bengal teachers association(ABTA ) and All Bengal primary teachers association(ABPTA) called Raj Bhavan Abhiyan on this day to protest against corruption in teacher recruitment, recruitment of teachers in vacant posts, and dues of dearness allowance.

On the way from Subodh Mallick Square to the Raj Bhavan, the police barricaded the march of teachers on Rani Rashmoni Avenue. Following this, the police clashed with the teachers. The two teachers’ organisations informed that several teachers were injured in the clash with the police. There the teachers sat down and a short road meeting was held.

ABPTA general secretary Mohandas Pandit said that the president of the primary education board, Manik Bhattacharya, was dismissed on the orders of the court due to corruption. Former education minister Partha Chattopadhyay was jailed on corruption charges. The past decade has created an unprecedented record of corruption in the government education system in the state as well as the country.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty was present at the teachers' meeting to show solidarity. Regarding the police brutality in the teachers' march, he said that teachers have been repeatedly tortured in the state for the past decade. “There is now such anarchy across the state that the police have to salute thieves instead of teachers. This Trinamool government has ended a generation by selling jobs and scrapping education. Trinamool has lost their moral right to be in government,” he added.