'Can't continue stir at Gandhi Statue'

KOLKATA: After the permission granted to TET 2014 candidates from South 24-Paragans to continue their protest at Gandhi Statue on Mayo Road expired on September 21, the Calcutta High Court on Thursday refused to allow them to stage demonstration at the same venue.

Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya refused the job seekers from South 24-Parganas to continue their protest at the venue. Around 50 protesters had approached the court seeking permission to continue the sit-in protest for another two months.

Justice Rajasekhar Mantha on September 6 had directed the protesters to seek permission from Kolkata Police to continue the protest. Following this, the protesters had applied on September 8 and permission was given on September 13. They had sat for the protest from September 16 to September 20. The job seekers from South 24-Parganas had been protesting the lack of recruitment for the position of teachers in the district.

The notification for teachers' recruitment was issued in 2009. But the appointment was later cancelled and a fresh set of interviews were conducted in 2014. During this time, recruitment for the position of teachers was made from various districts of Bengal, however, the recruitment from South 24-Parganas reportedly did not take place.

The candidates had been protesting under the statue along with other SSC protesting candidates. The SSC candidates had been protesting for more than 570 days, demanding jobs. Some 2014-TET qualified candidates have been protesting for more than 50 days near the Matangini Hazra's statue on Mayo Road.

The candidates were absent from the protest site on Red Road during the Durga Puja carnival on Saturday. They had been ordered by the Kolkata Police not to sit for the protest on Saturday considering the security arrangements for the day.