By Zaidul Haque, TwoCircles.net,
Kolkata: Several Muslim organizations have opposed the date of state teacher recruitment exam which is scheduled in Ramadan. The School Service Commission (SSC) and Madrasa Service Commission (MSC) are going to conduct the exam on 29th July 2012. Ramadan is likely to start from 20th July.
Pressing the commissions to change the examination schedule, a delegation of Muslim Reservation Morcha, an umbrella organization, met the chairmen of SCC and MSC separately on 18th June 2012 and demanded immediate announcement of changing the date.
SSC recruits teachers for schools and MSC recruits teachers & nonteaching staff for Government aided Madrasas in the state. SSC is controlled by the School education department and MSC comes under the Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education Department.
Convenor of Muslim Reservation Morcha, Abu Rida, educationalist and writer, told TCN that a delegation met with Mr Chittaranjan Mondal, the Chairman of School Service Commission and Prof. Abudr Rauf, Chairman of the Madrasa Service Commission on 18th June. The delegation had SDPI state president Taidul Islam, All India Imam Council’s West Bengal State Secretary Abdul Toab, President of Madrasa Students Union Ahsanul Bari, PFI state president Sahabuddin and SDPI state Secretary Anisur Rahman. They submitted a memorandum regarding conducting the examination after the month of Ramadan. Abu Rida said, that the Government has been changing exam dates on different grounds even after he Exam notice was declared. Last time SSC board announced that this exam will be held on 22nd July, 2012. As a call for a grand gathering on 21st July in Kolkata by Trinamul Congress may be hampering transportation system next day, so that date has been changed to 29th July. Abu Rida asked, if SSC can change the date due to a political reason, why can’t it change the date considering the religious concern of Muslims.
SSC chairman Chittaranjan Mondal told Abu Rida that, they had no idea about the Ramadan, so this date was fixed. Form next year they will be careful about the date. He requested him to quit the demand for this year. But the delegation of Muslim organizations denied. They met also with Prof. Abdur Rauf, Chairman of Madrasa Service Commission on the same day. Every year SSC and MSC both schedule the examination on the same date. Abu Rida asked Mr Rauf as to how Madrasa Service Commission can agree with SSC to choose the date inside the Ramazan. He also said the examination will be held in five Zones. Any candidate can choose any Zone, may be he is not staying within the Zone, but having right to sit on that Zone. So, students of Kolkata may be in trouble if his examination centre is located in Murshidabad during Ramadan.
Abu Rida warned that if the date is not changed, Muslim organizations will make a demonstration in Kolkata and campaign throughout the state. He urged Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, who holds Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education department in her hand, to look into the matter immediately and accept their demand. He said that never any examination is scheduled during Durga Puja or any other Hindu festival in West Bengal or on the day of Ganesh Puja in Maharashtra. He demanded the government to immediately announce the changing in the date of the SSC and MSC recruit examination.
According to sources in the SSC office, already 7 lac applications have been submitted against 55000 vacant posts of teachers. Among the 7 lac applications more than 2 lac applicants are from Muslim community, sources said. Beside this, in Madrasa Service Commission nearly 60 percent of applicants are from Muslim community.