15 injured as contractual teachers clash with police

The agitators were computer teachers appointed in government schools and colleges across the state on contract through the placement agency

Kolkata: Around 15 persons, including eight policemen, were injured on Tuesday in a clash between the police and agitating contractual teachers. The police carried out a lathicharge when the agitators tried to block the road in front of a placement agency's office in Minto Park area demanding salary hike, police said. The agitators were computer teachers appointed in government schools and colleges across the state on contract through the placement agency.

The entire area turned into a battlefield when the police resorted to lathi charge to disperse around 300 teachers who were forcibly trying to enter a building where the placement agency's office was located. Six agitators were arrested in connection with the incident, a senior officer of Kolkata Police said. "The placement company was getting Rs 3.50 lakh per school annually from the government and was providing a monthly salary of Rs 4,500 to each teacher for the last 4-5 years. But the teachers demanded a hike," the senior officer of Kolkata Police said. Around 300 private teachers, including 70 women, started demonstrating in front of the office building around 10.30 am.

The effort of the police to pacify the agitators went in vain and they put up road blockade. Many of them tried to forcibly enter the office after assaulting policemen guarding the entrance of the building, the officer said. A clash ensued and in the melee, eight police personnel and seven agitators were injured, he said. Vehicular movement was affected on the stretch for around two hours as a result. Later in the evening, the teachers started demonstrating in front of Education Minister Partha Chatterjee's residence in the southern part of the city.

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