Monday, August 31, 2015

March for our Rights

In protest of the the HE Minister's threat at the Legislative Assembly to terminate the service all existing part time teachers and with the demand for pay scale & other benefits for all part time teachers of the state, our association has decided to gather at College Squire on 10th Sept, '15 at 10.30am.The assembled teachers will then move in a protest march to Raja Subodh Mullick Squire(Wellington) and carry out the scheduled protest programme, following which representatives led by Mrs Elora Biswas will go to Nabanna to present to the CM's office their deputation. Part time teachers from all over the state are requested, for the interest of safeguarding their own rights, to join this protest march.

-Elora Biswas

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Protest March on September

The experience of college part time teachers have never been recognized by the Govt., not to mention their dedication & devotion to their service over the years, which too have been slighted. On one hand when college Lab instructors/lab assistants who are but graduates, have been proposed to be paid the scale of a full time professor, teachers who are Masters degree holders have been threatened with the termination of their service by the Hon'ble HE minister. The previous state govt had assured these teachers with a tenure of service till the age of 60, and the present govt, ignoring all their contribution of over the years, threatens to sack them! Are these teachers, to be humiliated & ill treated thus constantly, & left to the mercy of destiny till they reach the end of their service? Have these teachers not played their roles in nation building over the years? Many govt & private high level officials have been tutored by these 'incapable' or 'inefficient' teachers, as the govt prefers to call them. This is probably the reward that a teacher in our society deserves after giving away decades, prime years of their lives, in loving, guiding & nurturing young minds, for the benefit of the nation. To stop such repeated injustice, these hapless teachers will again move to the streets in the month of September. We appeal to all part time teachers to join hands with us, in our fight for rights, against oppression & injustice.

Elora Biswas

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Fighting for our demands till the very end

Part time teachers for over decades, have been an indispensable part of the Higher Education System, though  their contributions have been variously slighted by the govt. Teachers serving for decades have been thrown out of service, have been treated as a mere burden on institutions. They have provided, and still provide the fundamental support to the education system, where there is a genuine scarcity of full time teachers, thereby catering to all academic needs of their respective institutions. Ironically, even after years of "full" support to their institutions these hapless teachers have still remained a "part", in the eyes of all. Exploitation have rarely been better exemplified. In the previous decades several part time college teachers have been regularized as full time teachers owing to social, legal & political necessities; proving that this can be easily done even today. We have been ceaselessly fighting to achieve our rights over the years. We demand prestigious full time privileges for all part time college & university teachers of the state. We have moved to the streets several times in the recent past, voicing our demands & will continue to do so in the days to come, until our demands are met. We fight for all part time teachers of the state & thereby appeal to all to stand beside us in this fight against humiliation & injustice.

Our demands include 1) Absorption as full time teachers & re-designate us as "Essential Professors", keeping our essentiality, in the higher education system in mind  2) Pay scale for all part time teachers 3) Pension, PF, Gratuity, medical & other leave as enjoyed by the full time teachers 4) Representation in various administrative bodies & committees in colleges & universities & other such facilities.

-Elora Biswas

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

The Revolutionary March on 5th Aug '15

The City of Joy witnessed yet another day of intense misery of Part time teachers of colleges & universities ob West Bengal, when braving heavy onslaught of monsoon, full drenched, college teachers in hundreds flocked to the streets of Central Kolkata, demanding dignity & stability in their service as enjoyed by the full time teachers.
The procession started from Subodh Mullick Square, Wellington & marched to Y Channel at Esplanade with teachers led by Elora Biswas performing symbolic protest gestures & voicing out fully their demands for justice.
The scorn of the dark clouds overhead followed by heavy torrents could not stop the advancing footsteps of the the much exploited teachers, who have been victims of several humiliations & regressions till date.
 
Several media representatives assembled at the venue despite adverse weather conditions.From Y Channel, representatives of the association led by Mrs Biswas, escorted by police, went to the CM's office at Nabanna, Howrah to submit their deputation.