Construction of a stage for protesting teachers at a new site began on Sunday (May 25, 2025) following a Calcutta High Court directive which asked the teachers and other staff of West Bengal government-run and -aided schools, who lost their jobs due to a Supreme Court ruling, to shift their protest venue in the interest of public convenience.
A bamboo structure was being constructed by the State administration near Salt Lake Central Park.
The makeshift dharna mancha is expected to be completed by 2.30 to 3 pm, a worker said.
Following the court’s order, the protesters, who had been occupying the road outside Bikash Bhavan, moved to the adjacent footpath near Central Park to allow traffic movement.
The leaders of the Deserving Teachers Rights Forum said they would shift to the designated site only after inspecting it and ensuring that basic amenities such as water and toilets are in place.
On Friday, the Calcutta High Court directed the agitating teachers to move their indefinite sit-in demonstration to Central Park, around 200 metres from their earlier location, to ease disruption to daily commuters and office-goers.
Hearing petitions filed by the Deserving Teachers Rights Forum, under whose banner the protest is being organised, and the State government, Justice Tirthankar Ghosh ordered the protesters to move to Central Park in Salt Lake, located opposite Bikash Bhavan, the state’s education department headquarters.
It directed the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation to provide essential amenities, including drinking water and bio-toilet facilities, at the new protest site, and further advised the State to adopt a humane approach, and if possible, to provide a temporary shelter at the protest site along with drinking water and bio-toilets to protect them from the summer heat.
The court also asked the police not to take any coercive steps against the protesters.
Nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff of West Bengal government-sponsored and -aided schools lost their jobs following a Supreme Court order citing irregularities in the recruitment process.
Published – May 25, 2025 03:20 pm IST
