Kolkata, February 16 Several parts of the city saw protests on Monday as job aspirants and anganwadi workers staged demonstrations demanding recruitment, better wages, and administrative action.
At the headquarters of the Education Department, Bikash Bhavan, candidates who had cleared the Teachers Eligibility Test and held B.Ed or D.El.Ed degrees, demonstrated, alleging that those trained through the National Institute of Open Schooling were being excluded from the primary recruitment process. They banged utensils during their protest.
The agitators claimed that a Supreme Court order issued in April 2023 directed the appointment of around 1,200 such candidates within three months, but no action had been taken so far. Some of the protesters carried placards reading "No News, No Vote" and demanded the resignation of the president of the state primary education board.
In another demonstration, upper primary job aspirants who had already appeared for interviews marched towards the West Bengal Assembly, seeking immediate recruitment to vacant posts.
They sought the intervention of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, claiming they had completed all stages of the selection process.
Meanwhile, members of the West Bengal Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Welfare Association began a three-day sit-in near the Shaishali complex, the headquarters of the social welfare department, demanding "equal pay for equal work," permanent job status, pensions, and gratuity benefits on par with those provided in states such as Gujarat.
Raising concerns over the digital reporting requirements under the Poshan tracker system, they said they would not use personal mobile phones or accept the existing allowance.