Page 24 - EW October 2024

Education News

However if the previous lists are an- colleges, systemic bullying, threats
nulled, these teachers may lose their and an environment of fear perpe-
jobs. trated by the ‘North Bengal lobby’,
In Uttar Pradesh where unem- i.e, people with close ties to the
ployment is rife, government school ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC)
teacher jobs in which salaries range party, public anger is boiling over.
from Rs.35,400 for a primary teacher Meanwhile, responding to the
to Rs.61,700per month for higher sec- fourth status report submitted by
ondary, are highly prized. Therefore the Central Bureau of Investigation
the anguish of candidates selected in (CBI) to the Supreme Court on Sep-
the first list, who may lose their em- tember 30, a bench headed by Chief
ployment when the OBCs quota is ex- Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud
panded, is real. observed that “substantial leads”
This has also become a politically have emerged about the rape-murder
sensitive issue as OBCs comprise near- of the resident doctor and alleged
ly 50 percent of the state’s population. financial irregularities at the hospital
In the recent Lok Sabha election, the perpetrated by former principal Dr.
BJP suffered a severe setback with its Sandip Ghosh, who was arrested by
representation in the Lok Sabha drop- CBI on September 14. The bench
ping to 33 seats from the 61 it won in acknowledged the possibility of an
General Election 2019. “inter/intra state or broader nexus
If the OBC quota is not expanded of smuggling bio waste material”
to appoint 6,800 additional OBC into Bangladesh. The apex court also
teachers, it is likely to have adverse pulled up the state government for colleges with an aggregate enrolment
repercussions for the incumbent Yogi “tardy progress” in improving safety of 5,125 students.
Adityanath government in the leg- measures to protect doctors in gov- s a result, chief minister Mama-
islative assembly election scheduled ernment hospitals across the state. Ata Banerjee who usually brooks
for early next year. Yet at the centre CBI has been investigating the case no dissent and is too thin skinned to
of this story is the sorry plight of as- since August 13 with the Supreme tolerate even slightest criticism, has
sistant teachers whose future has been Court taking suo motu cognizance of bent to the protesting medicos and
undecided for so long. the case on August 20. accepted much of their five-point
Vidya Pandit (Lucknow) According to CBI sources, the charter of September 16.
‘North Bengal lobby’ has acquired The demands included transfer of
WEST BENGAL huge influence in the past decade. several Kolkata police personnel and
Lost sheen They reportedly dictate transfer, state health department top brass.
recruitment, and promotions within
Banerjee also sanctioned Rs.100
the state government’s Department crore for infrastructure develop-
wo months after the gruesome of Health and Family Welfare. They ment in hospitals for doctors and
rape and murder of a 31-year- also enjoy extra-constitutional power reconstitution of patient welfare
Told trainee doctor in the semi- as exemplified by the controversial committees, creation of a special
nar hall of RG Kar Medical College, Dr. Sandip Ghosh, who following task force to tackle safety-security
Kolkata on August 9, public protests the rape-murder was transferred to measures in hospitals and setting up
and demonstrations continue on the head another government hospi- an effective and responsive grievance
streets of the ‘City of Joy’. tal. Preliminary CBI investigations redressal machinery across hospitals
The horrific murder of the young indicate that Ghosh was indulging in and medical colleges. After these
medical intern which exposed the illegal body trafficking and biomedi- concessions, the junior doctors of
lack of safety, governance, and legal cal waste disposal, with the aid of Dr. state medical colleges rejoined duty
accountability of medical institutions Sudipto Roy, TMC MLA and head on September 21, following 42 days
in the state, has shaken the bhadral- of West Bengal Medical Council. of ‘cease work’. However, on October
ok (refined middle class) out of its Moreover a spate of resignations 1, the agitating doctors resumed an
torpor. Unusually, they are taking to including 18 junior doctors working indefinite ‘total cease work’ alleging
the streets with rage, staring down in government hospitals in North inaction on the assurances given by
the state’s administration. Moreover Bengal due to unfavourable work- the chief minister.
with more doctors speaking out place conditions, are indicative of In their third term in office, the
against mismanagement in medical deep rot in the state’s 34 medical ruling TMC and chief minister Ba-

24 EDUCATIONWORLD OCTOBER 2024