West Bengal TET candidates demand interview round, protest in Salt Lake area

KOLKATA: Over 50 Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) candidates, who claimed to have qualified the 2014 TET examination, on Wednesday demonstrated before the APC Bhavan in the Salt Lake area demanding they be called for interview immediately. A Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate official said around 10 demonstrators were briefly detained for obstructing vehicular traffic near APC Bhavan.

There was high drama earlier as a strong police contingent was posted at Sector V, Central Metro stations as well as at the Karunamoyee bus stand as cops kept those who alighted at the spot under strict surveillance. The official said that around 50 protestors suddenly assembled in the middle of the road and tried to proceed towards the APC Bhavan building, but they were quickly dispersed by the force.

Those who refused to budge were bodily lifted and taken in waiting vehicles for obstructing traffic and preventing police from discharging their responsibilities, the official said. The detained primary teaching job aspirants were later released.

The issue has been hanging fire for over two years as hundreds of TET candidates claimed that they were bypassed in the interview despite having qualified for the test and their names omitted from the panel. Wednesday’s protest was preceded by a two-day sit-in by TET candidates in the area 10 days back. "We will come back till our demands are met. The government and police cannot crush our movement," Dalia Santra, one of the protestors, said.