WB: Left Student, Youth, Gherao Kolkata Municipal Corporation, Demand Filling of Vacancies

Kolkata: On Thursday, the state capital witnessed a march by the left student and youth organisations demanding the transparent recruitment of 29,000 vacant posts in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC). Yesterday afternoon, due to the clashes with the police, chaotic scenes marred the Esplanade area.

On this day, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) - Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) called ‘KMC Cholo Abhiyan’ with 8-point demands, including immediate permanent and transparent recruitment to 29,000 vacancies of KMC and immediate reopening of closed corporation schools in different wards, stopping of the felling of trees, ending filling of swamps, stopping illegal constructions all over the city, and ending alleged promoter raj. DYFI state secretary Meenakshi Mukherjee, president Dhrabjyoti Saha, Kaltan Dasgupta and other leaders of AISF, PSU, AISB, AIYF, RYF, AIYL were present at the rally.

For the rally, students and youths first gathered at College Square and then the procession proceeded towards the KMC Office through Lenin Sarani. When the rally arrived in front of the New Market police station, the police stopped them from proceeding. Due to this, the situation became heated, and a clash took place.

The left student and youth activists broke the barricade and started moving towards the corporation building. Then the police again stopped several student-youth leaders, including Meenakshi Mukherjee, who, after a clash with the police, sat down on the road. Leftist students and youths raised slogans from the protest site, 'Chor Dhoro, Jail Bharo' (Catch the thieves and put them in jail).

Student-youth clash with the police.

Meenakshi Mukherjee said from the protest site, "They will steal our money and build their own cars and houses. And unemployed job seekers, students, and youth will sit on the streets! This will not happen day after day in West Bengal."

Expressing anger towards the police, the DYFI leader said, “The police are standing in front of the barricade to stop us. The police of this state have now become gangsters. We were marching, demanding immediate and speedy recruitment. We wanted to submit the memorandum. But the police did not even allow us to submit our memorandum to the corporation officials.”

A couple of years ago, a deputation was given to the mayor of KMC by the left-wing student organisations demanding an appointment to vacant posts. Even though the then mayor Sobhan Chattopadhyay had promised to recruit at that time, but a large number of vacancies in various offices in the KMC have not been filled yet.

It is to be noted that the left student youth organisations have called for a student youth rally in Kolkata's Rani Rashmani Road, Esplanade, on September 20, demanding punishment of corrupt people of the ruling party, employment and justice for the murder of Anis Khan.