Over 25k set to lose jobs after HC order: What Bengal teachers’ hiring scam is all about
Times of India | 24 April 2024
In a setback to the West Bengal govt, Calcutta high court on Monday cancelled the 2016 recruitment process for govt-sponsored and aided schools. As many as 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff who were appointed through a state-level selection test are set to lose their jobs and have been asked by the court to return their salaries along with 12% interest.Declaring the selection process “null and void”, HC directed CBI to probe the appointment process and submit a report in three months.
The selection process
It was meant to fill vacancies for the posts of assistant teachers for Classes 9-10, assistant teachers for Classes 11-12, Group C (clerks) and Group D posts. Candidates for teaching posts took the teacher eligibility test (TET) and those who qualified were called for an interview and personality test. A state-level selection test (SLST) panel was prepared. Selection was on the basis of weightage given to TET score, academic marks, interview and personality test.
The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) issued appointment letters based on the recommendations of the School Service Commission (SSC). These recommendations were made strictly on the basis of the SLST merit list.
Why the controversy
Instead of mentioning SLST scores, SSC uploaded the names and application IDs of the successful candidates. Some TET candidates then moved Calcutta HC complaining that at least 25 candidates whose names were not in the SLST panel got appointment letters. HC appointed an inquiry committee led by retired HC judge Ranjit Kumar Bag to look into the complaints. The committee held that a five-member panel set up by former education minister Partha Chatterjee to oversee school appointments was “not valid under the law” and named three state officials who allegedly manipulated the rankings of candidates and issued appointment letters even after the expiry of the panel on May 4, 2019. Subsequently, HC ordered a CBI inquiry.
CBI’s findings and HC’s action
CBI told HC that members of the five-person panel identified teaching vacancies in an “unauthorised manner” and issued “fictitious” recommendations by scanning signatures of chairpersons of regional service commissions under SSC. It also pointed to manipulation of optical marks recognition (OMR) answer scripts of candidates, where even those scoring 0 or 1 were given qualifying marks of 51 in the SLST panel. The original OMR sheets had been destroyed.
HC directed CBI to hand over OMC hard disks to SSC and ascertain whether it matched its database. It also gave an opportunity to the candidates to inspect the OMR sheets. Based on the findings, HC directed SSC to submit a report on the number of candidates who got out-of-turn appointments, those who got appointments beyond the SLST panel, and those who submitted blank OMR sheets but were appointed.
The state govt, in a bid to placate genuine candidates, tried to give them appointments by creating supernumerary posts, which HC struck down.
No. of illegal appointees
HC says the exact number could not be identified yet, and its sweeping order Monday will also affect those who were genuine appointees. It has, therefore, directed CBI to continue with the investigation. HC held that non-cooperation from SSC and the state govt was making it impossible to “remove the grain from the chaff.”