Around 300 government job aspirants in Gujarat who have cleared examination but yet not employed as schoolteachers were on Tuesday detained by police in Gandhinagar city after they held a protest demanding their recruitment.
They were later released from custody, police said.
Gujarat Congress MLA and party's state working president Jignesh Mevani was also detained by the police for taking part in the protest, said Gandhinagar district superintendent of police Ravi Teja Vasamsetty.
"We detained nearly 300 protesters, including Mevani, for organising a protest without permission. They had given a call on social media and invited protesters to gather at gate No. 1 of the state secretariat complex, which can not be allowed. We released all of them late in the evening," said the SP.
These agitators, including women, have cleared Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) and Teacher Aptitude Test (TAT) as mandated by the state government.
As per rules, it is mandatory to clear TET to get a job of a teacher for Classes 1 to 8 in government and grant-in-aid schools. On the other hand, TAT is compulsory for an aspirant wanting to be a teacher for Classes 9 to 12 in these schools.
The protesters wanted the state government to fill up the vacant posts of teachers in government-run schools so that they get a regular job.
Protestors claim they have been sitting idle at home since considerable time because the state government was not keen on recruiting TET/TAT candidates as regular teachers.
According to Mevani, nearly 17,000 posts of teacher are lying vacant in government-run schools across Gujarat. Nearly 90,000 TET/TAT pass candidates are jobless because the state government has not initiated recruitment for them.
"These unemployed youths have been demanding that they be given jobs but they were never heard by the government. Thus, they gathered in Gandhinagar to raise their demand. The government can give them permanent jobs if it wants. If their demands are not accepted, we will intensify the stir," the Congress MLA warned before his detention.
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