5 teachers in Bengal consume “poison” outside Bikash Bhawan to protest transfer, admitted to hospital

A group of teachers of Shishu Shiksha Kendra (SSK) and Madhyamik Shiksha Kendra (MSK) — all of them women — today staged a protest outside the West Bengal government’s education department office in Salt Lake – Bikash Bhawan – to protest their transfer away from home. During the protest, many threatened to commit suicide and five of them actually consumed “poison” — liquid from bottles — and were taken ill. They were rushed to the state-run medical college and hospitals – NRS and RG Kar. The condition of four of them was stated to be critical.

The contractual teachers protesting are part of the body, Shikshak Oikya Mancha, that has been organising protests on various issues, including pay hike, for some time now. Earlier, they have staged protest outside Nabanna – the Bengal government’s administrative headquarters – and outside education minister Bratya Basu’s house. The teachers have alleged that they are being punished especially because they are organising these protests. Tuesday’s protest outside Bikash Bhawan was primarily on this issue. They were allegedly transferred to north Bengal, though they live in south Bengal.

They were stopped during the protest when they had entered the main building premises after crossing the main boundary wall. They got into a scuffle with the police and then suddenly took out bottles from their bags and consumed the liquid from the bottles. Probe is on to identify what they had consumed. Police personnel posted on duty outside Bikash Bhawan were seen trying to take away the bottles from their hands, but by then five of them had already consumed the “poison”.