Kolkata, March 10 Hundreds of teachers and aspiring teachers held separate rallies near the headquarters of the state's Education Department in Salt Lake, near Kolkata, on Tuesday, demanding recruitment and pay-related issues.
In one protest, around 300 aspiring teachers under the banner of the 'SLST Waiting Candidate Association' marched from Karunamoyee and attempted to enter Bikash Bhavan, the Education Department headquarters.
Police personnel stopped them before they could proceed further.
"We demand the immediate filling of thousands of vacant teacher positions. Although the WBSSC declared us qualified in the 2025 written recruitment test, we were not called for interviews later. We want to know the reason for our exclusion. Every eligible waitlisted candidate should be recruited," said Saswata Basu, an SLST candidate.
Some of the protestors also tried to move towards the office of the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), located about 500 metres away, to meet its chairman, but were stopped by the police midway.
In a separate demonstration, around 500 members of the All Bengal Teachers' Association (ABTA) organised a rally from the City Centre 1 Metro station to Bikash Bhavan.
They demanded an immediate increase in Dearness Allowance (DA) and the implementation of the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission for teaching and non-teaching staff of state-aided schools.
The twin protests disrupted traffic movement in the area during the afternoon.
Police detained several participants and cleared the stretch, restoring normal traffic flow.