Bengal’s protesting teachers ‘ignored by PM and CM’ as one dies of ‘stress’

Teachers who lost their jobs following a court verdict listen to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s address during a press conference. File photo. | Photo Credit: ANI

Neither the West Bengal Chief Minister nor the Prime Minister have met protesting teachers who lost their jobs following a Supreme Court order on April 4. Meanwhile, the Mamata Government will issue a notification on Friday (May 30, 2025) to start fresh recruitments as teachers continue their protests. In another development, the death of a teacher on Wednesday owing to “stress” has complicated issues.

Teachers said that they have written to local BJP leaders, including an MP and the party’s district president, requesting a meeting with the PM.

PM Narendra Modi addressed the public in West Bengal’s Alipurduar district on Thursday (May 29).

“We want to meet the Prime Minister in Alipurduar... We request the PM at least give us a hearing,” Chinmoy Mondal, one of the leaders of the protesting teachers, had said on May 28. A few representatives had travelled to Alipurduar and informed local police about their desire to meet the PM.

They have repeatedly sought an audience with the Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee. Six women tried to go to the CM’s residence in Kalighat, south Kolkata, but were stopped and detained by police on Thursday. They were released later.

Teacher dies of ‘stress’

On Thursday, protesting teachers said that Praveen Karmakar, a teacher from Amui Para Refugee School, had passed away the previous day. He was apparently suffering from “severe mental stress, which led to a stroke. He had an underlying illness and could not bear the pressure of losing his job,” the teachers said.

“The Chief Minister’s decision on the exam has accelerated this death agony. If we still cannot return to school with dignity without getting proper justice, then West Bengal may become a pile of corpses of innocent teachers and education workers. The state government, the judiciary, and every party to dirty politics must take full responsibility for this,” an official statement by the teachers further said.

Uncertain future

Their pleas to meet the CM and the PM having fallen on deaf ears, their future looks uncertain even as the State Government is set to begin the fresh recruitment process.

Though the PM did not meet the teachers, he commented on the issue during his rally. “Corruption has the worst impact on the youth. How the poor and middle class are affected by corruption; we have seen that through the teacher recruitment scam. The Trinamool Congress government has ruined the future of thousands of teachers and their families.”

Mr. Modi said that the recruitment scam is not only ruining the teachers’ prospects but also the education system in West Bengal. 

Mamata Banerjee previously met with the protesting teachers on April 7, right after the Supreme Court judgement. But she did not engage in any dialogue; she only made a few promises during a speech at an auditorium in Kolkata.

The teachers who had started protesting outside the West Bengal School Service Commission office after the apex court order resumed work towards the end of April, after the court allowed “untainted” teachers to return to work till December 31, by which time fresh recruitment is expected to be completed.

On May 7, a fresh set of protests began. Teachers have been sitting outside Bikash Bhawan, the State Education Department headquarters in Salt Lake. The protests are now in their 23rd day. They have been demanding that the CM meet them and hear their demand that they will not appear for fresh exams. But they were dispersed in a baton charge by police on May 15 when they gheraoed Bikash Bhawan to build pressure.

Published - May 29, 2025 10:50 pm IST