Some old Teachers Eligibility Test examinees blocked the National Highway 34 on Monday morning, demanding their recruitment in primary schools at Malda's Rathbari.
The protesters alleged they had taken the TET for primary schools in 2009-10. Thereafter, the list of successful candidates came out and their names were listed. However, almost eights year later, they are yet to be appointed as teachers in government schools.
The protesters also alleged that the board of primary education started recruitment of the 2015 batch. The successful candidates in the 2015 examination are getting appointments, but the board has neglected the demands of the examinees who passed the 2009 TET, the protestors alleged.
Police, meanwhile, arrested eight protesters from the spot. The protesters alleged that police tried to restrain them, resulting in a scuffle between the two parties. Eventually, police restored to indiscriminate lathi-charge, injuring some of the protesters. Ruling out the allegations, however, police said no such lathi-charge took place.
Saibal Mondal, one of the protesters said they had sat for the examination in 2009-10, during the regime of erstwhile Left Front government. "Later, the government delayed the process of recruitment. In 2014, we sat for the TET again.
The government released the list of around 4,000 successful candidates for 1,331 vacancies.
But we were still not given jobs," Mondal said adding, the candidates who passed the 2015 TET are getting appointments.
"Have we done something wrong? Why is the primary board not considering us for the job," asked another protester.
Manik Bhattacharya, President of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, meanwhile explained why the confusion still exists.
He said the erstwhile Left Front government had issued a notification in 2009 for the recruitment of teachers in primary schools, but the government could not complete the recruitment process. Between 2009 and 2011, however, the TET was not held in the state.
In 2011, the Trinamool Congress government, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came to power. Following various complaints and anomalies in the list of candidates who passed the 2009 TET, the new government started an inquiry. Eventually, the old process of recruitment of teachers was declared invalid.
"Some people went to the High Court to challenge the cancellation of the 2009 result. The Court directed the state government to take another fresh test for the candidates who passed the exam in 2009.
We conducted the test in 2014 and a list of successful candidates was prepared. But some people again went to the Court against the 2014 result. The Court is yet to give a verdict on that issue," Bhattacharya told Millennium Post.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the police initially tried to talk to the protesters to withdrawn the blockade at Rathbari. Later, they managed to vacate the National Highway in a peaceful manner. However, some protesters on the other hand, alleged that police restored to indiscriminate lathi-charge.