Kolkata: In a significant development in West Bengal’s education sector, approximately 500 teachers, whose appointments were annulled following a Supreme Court order, staged a protest in Kolkata on Thursday. The Supreme Court had upheld a 2024 Calcutta High Court judgment that invalidated the recruitment of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff appointed through a 2016 recruitment drive by the School Service Commission (SSC).
The protesting educators, organized under the ‘Jogyo Sikshak Manch’ (Eligible Teachers Forum), expressed their dissatisfaction with being collectively penalized for alleged irregularities they claim they were not involved in. Mehboob Mondal, a spokesperson for the forum, stated, “We hit the streets to voice the demands of deserving teachers that they should not be penalized for the failure of the School Service Commission (SSC) to differentiate between the deserving and tainted candidates who sat for the recruitment tests in 2016 and got appointment letters.”
The protestors marched from various locations, including Esplanade and Sealdah, with placards reading ‘We want back our job’ and ‘SSC should come out with the list of tainted/untainted candidates.’ Despite a heavy police presence, the demonstrations proceeded without major incidents.
The Supreme Court’s decision has led to widespread debates about the integrity of the recruitment process. The court described the selection process as “vitiated and tainted” due to extensive manipulations and fraud, leading to the annulment of the appointments. However, the court also acknowledged the challenges in distinguishing between candidates who were genuinely qualified and those who benefited from fraudulent practices.
In response to the crisis, the West Bengal government has been urged to conduct a fresh and transparent recruitment process to fill the vacant positions, ensuring that merit and fairness are upheld. The situation remains fluid, with ongoing discussions about how to address the grievances of the affected teachers while restoring integrity to the recruitment system.
