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West Bengal: Teachers Demanding Hike In Pay Clash With Police In Siliguri

On Monday, a clash occurred in the northern West Bengal city of Siliguri between members of two teachers’ organizations supported by the CPI(M) and the police.
By Jitendra Jangid Apr 19, 2023, 14:29 IST
Members of two CPI(M)-backed teachers’ organisations clashed with the police in the northern West Bengal city of Siliguri on Monday. Hundreds of members of the All Bengal Teachers’ Association (ABTA) and All Bengal Primary Teachers’ Association (ABPTA) were marching to ‘Uttar Kanya’, the north Bengal secretariat of the state government, from Jalpai More to press for their demands when they were stopped at the Tinbatti More area. As they tried to break through the police barricades, a clash broke out. A police officer said the protesters were trying to move beyond the police cordon to the area where prohibitory orders were in place. “Mild force” along with water cannons had to be used to disperse them, he said. Later a five-member delegation of the teachers went to the secretariat to hand over a memorandum of their demands to the state government. RELATED NEWS Stage One: Online Common Entrance Examination for Recruitment of Agniveers, Others Begins ISRO Recruitment 2023: Applications Open for 63 Vacancies for Various Posts At iprc.gov.in, Salary up to Rs 1,42,400 Among the demands are increase in dearness allowance, non-implementation of NEP 2020, recruitment of eligible teaching job aspirants and arrest of all those accused in the school jobs scam. CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Bhattacharya, who led the march, alleged, “The police action on the teachers brought to the fore the anti-people and anti-teacher face of the TMC government. Today’s incident proves, this government is run by uneducated people.” Many protesters were detained and later released, police said. The CPI(M) claimed that several teachers were injured in the police action, but police said it did not have information about serious injury to any agitator.

On Monday, a clash occurred in the northern West Bengal city of Siliguri between members of two teachers’ organizations supported by the CPI(M) and the police. The All Bengal Teachers’ Association (ABTA) and All Bengal Primary Teachers’ Association (ABPTA) were marching towards the north Bengal secretariat of the state government, called ‘Uttar Kanya’, from Jalpai More to voice their demands. However, they were stopped at the Tinbatti More area, where the police had placed a barricade. When the protesters tried to break through the barricade, a clash erupted, and the police had to use “mild force” and water cannons to disperse the crowd.

According to a police officer, the protesters were attempting to enter an area where prohibitory orders were in place. Later, a delegation of five teachers went to the secretariat to submit a memorandum outlining their demands to the state government. The demands include an increase in dearness allowance, non-implementation of NEP 2020, recruitment of eligible teaching job aspirants, and the arrest of all those accused in the school jobs scam.

Bikash Bhattacharya, a CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP who led the march, accused the TMC government of being anti-teacher and anti-people, citing the police action against the teachers. Several protesters were detained and then released, according to police. The CPI(M) alleged that many teachers were injured in the police action, but the police claimed they did not have any information regarding serious injuries to any protester.

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