SSC scam: Mamata Banerjee’s announcements and promises at the Netaji Indoor meet
Telegraph | 8 April 2025
Some key takeaways from chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s address at Netaji Indoor Stadium on Monday
Top priority: Save jobs
“As long as I live, I will not let a single deserving teacher lose his or her job. Neither me nor you have the right to snatch jobs. The education department will do everything to ensure that. Do not worry. Don’t get provoked. We will not allow injustice to anyone. I give you my word, I give you my word, I give you my word,” the chief minister said.
Need SC clarification
Mamata said: “Keep this in mind. I want, for the sake of humanity, the Supreme Court to clarify and hand us the list, saying who is deserving and who is undeserving. We will seek a clarification from the Supreme Court on who is tainted and who is not. The state will also ask the court how the schools will run if so many jobs are scrapped.”
Voluntary service prod
Mamata urged the teachers to go to school. “Keep imparting lessons. Will you not be taking classes? Anyone can offer voluntary service. Nobody can stop you from doing that. Suppose the Supreme Court says that the services of even the untainted will have to be terminated. In that case, alternatives are ready. You render voluntary service. We will compensate,” she said. “We will take steps so you all can be reinstated within two months.... Those who have been working for 10 years will be getting additional concessions based on experience,” she said.
Legal eagles
One of the complaints of the aggrieved teachers was with the legal team representing the state in court. On Monday, Mamata promised to engage some of the top lawyers in the country.
“The state will approach lawyers like Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Kapil Sibal, Rakesh Dwivedi and Prashant Bhushan to fight the case in the Supreme Court,” she said.
Conspiracy
“There is a conspiracy to destroy the education system. There is a concerted effort. Classes IX, X, XI and XII are the gateway to the higher education system. Those who have been terminated were assigned to evaluate the answer scripts of the board examinations — Madhyamik and higher secondary. Some of them are gold medalists. You are labelling all of them as thieves,” she said.
Deserving, then tainted
Mamata said she would first take up the case of the deserving candidates. She did not desert the tainted either, keeping them for phase two.
“Have faith in me. First, let me fix the problem of the deserving candidates. Then, I will look into the evidence against the undeserving (tainted) candidates. Our job in the first phase will be to save the jobs of the deserving. In the second phase, we will see who have been labelled undeserving, why have they been labelled so... on the basis of what documents, everything will be looked into,” Mamata said.