West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee vowed to safeguard the positions of “meritorious” teachers whose hiring was canceled in a Supreme Court ruling. In delivering a statement to a convention of impacted educators at Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor Stadium, she criticized the decision and likened the situation to that of the all-India medical entrance examination, NEET, and explained the Supreme Court didn’t abolish the test in spite of a succession of accusations.
Banerjee urged the Supreme Court to delineate the parameters of determining who is deserving, questioning the rationale behind West Bengal’s education sector being targeted. She referred to the Vyapam case in Madhya Pradesh, when numerous individuals lost their lives in a recruitment scandal, and highlighted the lack of justice in that instance. “Why is Bengal being targeted? You are fearing Bengal’s skill,” she asserted.
Reaffirming her commitment to the teachers, Banerjee reassured them, stating, “If the Supreme Court provides us with clarity, we will thank you. If not, we will try a way of helping you. Suffer for two months, not 20 years. I will compensate you for those two months; you won’t have to beg.”
The Supreme Court had recently declared as void the appointments of over 25,000 teachers and school staff employed by the West Bengal School Service Commission in 2016 on charges of serious irregularities in the recruitment. The court had referred to the process of selection as “vitiated and tainted beyond resolution,” finding grave abnormalities such as rank manipulation and out-of-panel recruitments.
In its order, the court observed that the School Service Commission had even burnt OMR sheets, hence there could be no justification in doing so. It concluded that the entire recruitment process was intentionally undermined due to pervasive illegality.
Even though the court has established that candidates who are found to be impeccable do not have to refund their salaries, their service will be dissolved and a new recruitment process has to be initiated within three months.
With mounting pressure, Mamata Banerjee had accused opposition parties such as the BJP and CPM of plotting to destabilize the state’s education system. “A wounded tiger is more dangerous. It’s an assault on our government,” she had threatened, asking the opposition not to target teachers politically.
She directed the teachers to continue working, reassuring them that no termination letters have been issued up to now. Some of the teachers had previously refused to retake the qualifying exam, citing plans to file a review petition along with the government and the School Service Commission.
