Fire engulfs shanties at Lord’s Crossing in S Kolkata
A massive fire broke out in the shanties near Lord's crossing this afternoon. Sixteen fire engines were pressed into service.
Women members of an organisation (Shikkhok Aikya Muktomancha) of para teachers on Wednesday took to protest outside the West Bengal Vidhan Sabha premises
The agitators were demanding equal salary with that of regular teachers in schools, reported PTI.
The demonstration happened on a day when the West Bengal Assembly is set to meet for two days.
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More than 50 members of the organisation protested outside the assembly where the restriction orders were implemented, a senior officer said in the PTI report.
“We want equal pay for equal work with regular teachers and retirement benefits. We want to meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. This is a fight for our self- respect,” Gita Biswas, one of the agitating teachers, told reporters.
A team of women police personnel reached the assembly and removed them from there, the officer said.
“Over 50 para teachers have been removed from there. One fell sick during the operation. We will find out how they managed to climb a gate of the assembly. Police personnel were posted on the premises.
“We will find out whether there was any lapse in security,” the officer said. A squad of the Kolkata Police’s Rapid Action Force of the was deployed to take the situation under control.
The state education department had increased the salary of para teachers at primary level from Rs 5,954 to Rs 10,000 a month.
The monthly salary of para teachers at the higher secondary level was raised from Rs 8,500 to Rs 13,000.
Asked about the incident, state minister Subrata Mukherjee said, “The assembly doesn”t belong to any particular party. There are places to hold such agitations to air their grievances. In a parliamentary democracy, one can always demonstrate but not on the assembly premises.”
With PTI inputs
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