A large number of teaching job aspirants on Wednesday protested near Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s residence in Kalighat area of Kolkata, demanding appointment letters. Alleging that they were deprived of their jobs in government-sponsored and aided primary schools due to the recruitment scam, the protesters, who claimed to have cleared the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) in 2014, blocked the Kalighat crossing. Later, another group of protesters reached near Banerjee's residence demanding appointment letters. “We did not make it to the merit list despite studying hard and clearing the examination. But names of politicians featured in the list. Is it not a mockery of justice? We want justice,” a protester said, referring to the recent release of the 2014 TET candidates list in which there were namesakes of politicians. As hundreds of people protested without any prior intimation, police forcefully removed them. The protesters claimed they were heckled by the police personnel. After being released around 9 pm, the candidates again protested at Rabindra Sarani. “Police cannot stop us from organising a democratic protest. Police have assaulted us. This is not the way to stop a protest. We will continue to organise protests in the days to come to get our legitimate jobs,” on the protesters said. "Police did not give us water and did not allow us to go to bathroom,” said another protester. They later took out a rally towards Sealdah Police Station. Last week, a large number of TET candidates protested outside the office of TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee. The CBI is investigating alleged irregularities in the recruitment of primary and secondary school teachers by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education and the School Service Commission on the orders of Calcutta High Court. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is probing the alleged money trail involved in the irregularities. —With PTI
