A resident of North 24 Parganas, Hossain said, “We earned these jobs fairly. The fact that the court recognised it is a major step. Ideally, the authorities should have separated qualified candidates from unqualified ones from the start.”
Hossain was among the 25,753 teachers whose life came to a standstill following an April 22 order cancelling jobs of 25, 753 teachers and non-teaching staff made through the State Level Selection Test (SLST) in government-aided schools of West Bengal in connection with jobs ‘scam’. The court had also directed that a section of those recruits will have to return salaries drawn by them along with 12 per cent per annum interest.
The verdict has sparked furore across the state with the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) finally moving the apex court to challenge the order.
“The Supreme Court would take time to read (the order) and come up with a final judgement, so temporarily we are relieved. I got the job on merit and it’s indeed a happy news. It would have been better if the board (West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) had segregated the lists of deserving and undeserving candidates earlier,” added Hossain, who had been working as a teacher in a government school in South 24 Parganas’ Gosaba, around 105 kilometres away from his house.
Illias Biswas, a teacher at Sonapur BK High School in Alipurduar district, welcomed the apex court’s decision. “I had attended four counselling sessions and was a deserving candidate for the job. I got it completely on merit. After the High Court’s order, people like us were shattered. With this latest order, we are feeling relieved. We welcome the SC order,” said Biswas.
Chanchal Bag, who has qualified the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) but has not been recruited yet, said the state government and the WBSSC were to be blamed for the misery of teachers. “Transparency is the key. They should have revealed the number of deserving candidates and identified those who cheated the system. This delay is unacceptable. It is taking them forever to identify the people who submitted blank papers and got job who should be responsible,” said Bag, a resident of Bardhman.
“Cancelling appointments made by an entire panel is not justified if the SSC can segregate the eligible and ineligible appointments. The good thing is we will get our salary otherwise it would have been a problem for many of us. I had not even informed my elderly mother about the High Court order as she is a heart patient,” said a woman teacher living in Hooghly.
In the wake of the interim stay on the HC’s order, the appointed candidates are not required to refund their salaries until the next hearing in the case on July 16.