Around 1,000 contractual college teachers from across north Bengal organised a march to Uttarkanya, the state's branch secretariat located in Siliguri, to submit a 10-point charter of demands related to their jobs on Wednesday.

The march, organised under the banner of the State Aided Teachers' Welfare Association, witnessed the participation of educators working in the districts of Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, North Dinajpur, and South Dinajpur.

Retina Roy, a teacher at the Alipurduar Vivekananda College, said their main demand was for a hike in the honorarium which they receive from the colleges.

“The honorarium should match current living costs. Despite our contribution to the higher education system, we are forced to work under discriminatory conditions, both financially and professionally,” said Retina.

The contractual teachers also demanded immediate implementation of provident funds and allied benefits for them.

“These are basic entitlements which we have been denied for far too long. Also, the state should introduce a mutual transfer policy for contractual college teachers like us,” said another teacher who joined the march.

Some more demands which they pointed out were their inclusion under the state health scheme, child care leave and extraordinary leave, and an increase in their age of retirement from 60 to 65 years, like the permanent faculty members of colleges.

“There is a stark disparity in retirement policies among the permanent and contractual teachers," said Anamika Kundu, who teaches philosophy at Lilaboti Mahavidyalaya in Jateshwar, Alipurduar.

At the march, organised to coincide with chief minister Mamata Banerjee's north Bengal visit, contractual teachers also demanded a reservation of 10 per cent for them in recruitments conducted by the college service commission and the state public service commission.

As the march approached Uttarkanya, the police officers on duty allowed a five-member delegation to visit the branch secretariat, who submitted the memorandum addressed to the chief minister.

“Our delegation met officials and submitted the memorandum. They were assured that it would be forwarded to the chief minister. We hope she considers our demands. Otherwise, we will continue to organise such movements for our demands,” said a teacher.