Thousands of candidates aspiring for teaching jobs in primary schools continued to hit the streets protesting the lack of transparency in teachers’ appointment throughout Bengal.
Candidates continued to block roads in Kolkata, Coochbehar, Birbhum, Nadia, Burdwan, Raiganj, Barasat, Purulia — where the BJP took out a massive procession — and elsewhere demanding transparency in the mode of appointment even as Education Minister Partho Chatterjee blamed the opposition parties for fanning unrest.
Candidates complained “only those who bribed the politicians got jobs and others were overlooked.”
About 18 lakh candidates had appeared for TET exams out of which 72,000 were selected. But the protesters alleged candidates were not selected on account of their merit but in lieu of cash even as the Opposition parties claimed a scam worth Rs 10,000 crore had taken place in the name of teachers’ recruitment tests in the State.
“The candidates had to pay anywhere between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 8 lakh to get a teachers’ job” complained one of the candidates protesting at Vikash Bhavan in Salt lake. While the anti-Government movement continues throughout the State with candidates blockading roads and carrying out rallies, CM Mamata Banerjee warned she would not tolerate the politics of vandalism.
“Politics of vandalism had prevailed through the 34 years’ of left Front rule in Bengal. But enough is enough. Now we will not tolerate this anymore. I take it up as a challenge to put a lid on such kind of movements in the name of politics,” she said.