West Bengal: SFI claims ‘partial win’, says protest to continue

After the state government announced reopening of schools for classes 8 to 12 and colleges from February 3, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of CPI (M), on Monday claimed a “partial victory”, saying the decision was taken due to its pressure. The SFI had been protesting for the past five days, demanding resumption of educational institutions.

SFI state general secretary Srijan Bhattacharya declared that their protest would continue until all classes resume. “This is our partial victory as physical classes for students from class 1 to 7 are yet to begin. The state government has finally yielded. Although only half of our demand has been met. We are proud of this. But our fight does not stop here. From tomorrow, we will be on the streets to press other demands, including reopening of schools for all students, commencement of mid-day meal and waiver of school fees for one year,” said Bhattacharya. Before the government announcement, SFI activists staged a protest in College Street here and other parts of the state.

Later, they held a victory rally.

Meanwhile, Congress students’ wing Chhatra Parishad also staged a protest in Salt Lake earlier in the day with a similar demand.