West Bengal, 25 August (Jan Shakti News)
Five contractual women teachers, protesting against their transfer, allegedly drank pesticides on Tuesday after they were stopped by police from entering the West Bengal Education Department headquarters at Bikash Bhavan, Salt Lake in Kolkata.
The five contractual teachers, who drank pesticides to register their protest, have been identified as Chhobi Das, Sikha Das, Joshua Tudu, Mandira Sardar and Anima Nath. “The teachers who consumed pesticides aged between 45 and 59 years old,” said West Bengal Police.
The West Bengal Police added that all the teachers were rushed to RG Kar and NRS hospitals for medical attention by the police deployed in front of state education headquarters to prevent any untoward incident.
According to the doctors of the hospitals, necessary medical attention has been given to all the teachers and they have now been kept under observation.
According to reports, one of the teachers undergoing treatment at the RG Kar Hospital is said to be critical, while two others, who were brought to the hospital for medical attention, are out of danger.
According to doctors of the NRS hospital, the condition of the other two teachers, brought to the hospital for treatment, is deteriorating.
The five, along with several other contractual teachers, were agitating in front of the state education headquarters under the banner Sikshak Oikyo Mukt Mancha.
The protesting teachers were demanding revocation of transfer orders that forced many of them to move to places that are far from home, regularisation of their services and pay hikes for the Madhyamik Shiksha Kendra (MSK) and Sishu Siksha Kendra (SSK) teachers.
According to police, the teachers, around 3:30 pm, camped outside the Bikash Bhavan and tried to forcibly enter the premises. Security forces deployed at Bikash Bhavan started arresting the contractual teachers who tried to force their way into the education department headquarters.
“When the teachers were stopped the five took out bottles from their bag containing black liquid and gulped it. Within a few seconds, the teachers fell to the ground and started frothing. The five were rushed to hospitals on police vehicles,” said West Bengal police.
