Satisfied with CM's assurance, aspiring teachers withdraw

A day after getting assurance from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, around 200 aspiring school teachers Thursday withdrew their 29-day long relay hunger strike with the hope that something positive will happen by first week of June.

They lifted the stir after holding a meeting during the day with a five-member committee appointed by state Education Minister Partha Chatterjee to resolve the impasse.

"Following the chief minister's assurance and the development of today's meeting, we are withdrawing our agitation till the first week of June. We have trust on the chief minister," the agitators said.

They were claiming that a large number of teachers' posts were lying vacant but the authorities were not calling them for interview though they have the requisite qualifications.

"We will resume our agitation if the demands are not met by first week of June as assured by the chief minister," they said after the meeting.

The meeting took place a day after Banerjee dropped in at their dharna venue on Wednesday and assured them to look into their demands after the Lok Sabha poll process is over.

"I am helpless at the moment and cannot do anything right now as the election model code of conduct is in force. We have to frame a policy to resolve the demands. Please give me time," Banerjee had told the agitating aspiring teachers.

She had said she would ask the education minister to look into their demands after the elections.

The seven-phase Lok Sabha polls in the state will begin on April 11 and results will be announced on May 23.

Around 200 aspiring school teachers were on relay hunger strike and dharna from February 28 demanding recruitment to vacant posts in state-run institutes.

Education Minister Partha Chatterjee last Friday met representatives of the aspiring teachers and formed a five-member committee to look into their demands.

The agitators were on dharna and relay fast since February 28 under the banner of the SSC Yuva-Chhatra Adhikar Manch.

The CPI(M) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students' wing of the RSS, have backed their demands.