In the face of a controversy with the date of an all-India general strike called by central trade unions clashing with that of a scheduled Madhyamik examination of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) general secretary Gurudas Dasgupta asserted here on Tuesday that the date would not be changed.
“The reason for calling the strike for February 28 is symbolic. The strike has been called one day before the Budget is presented to protest against the anti-people economic policies of the government,” Mr. Dasgupta explained, admitting that the national convention had decided on the date without knowing the exam schedule.
When a similar situation arose in March 2007, with the Trinamool Congress calling a strike protesting the police firings in Nandigram, the exams of the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, the Central Board of Secondary Education and Council of School Certificate Examination in India were all rescheduled within 48 hours of the strike call.
Describing as “artificial” the “unnecessary controversy” over whether the strike was more important than education, Mr. Dasgupta appealed to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to reschedule the examination.
He said he had spoken to former officials of the Board who cited several instances when an exam was rescheduled “not only for national or State-wide bandhs, but also for a local shutdown.” “I am giving you the logical arguments. If they are not considered, then it shall be sheer obstinacy.”
