Para teachers scale Assembly gate

Kolkata: After the women members of a para teachers' organisation attempted to barge into the premises of State Legislative Assembly while staging protest, senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Subrata Mukherjee opined that everyone has the right to protest but not in an

illegal manner.

"The Assembly is not a place for any particular party. It is a place for all parties and it is the responsibility of all to preserve its sanctity," said Mukherjee.

The incident took place ahead of the first day of the Special Session, scheduled to be held on Wednesday. Under the banner of Sikshak Aikya Mukta Mancha, the para teachers were demanding parity in their pay scale with the regular teachers. They demanded to meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. They tried to scale the gate number 6 of the Assembly.

Meanwhile, a senior police officer said they had no prior information about the attempted invasion. Initially, there were only a handful of women cops deployed at the gate.

Later, a large team of female constables was called to disperse the agitators.

Earlier on January 11, the protestors had tried to march towards the state Secretariat Nabanna and were involved in a scuffle with the police.

"We staged a protest at Esplanade pressing for our demand and withdrew it on January 15 after we got an assurance from the Chief Minister's office that our demands will be met soon. But, nothing has happened," said

a protestor.