'Don't foresee salary problem after CM Mamata Banerjee's assurance to job losers': Minister Bratya Basu
Times of India | 11 April 2025
Central Kolkata came to a grinding halt on Thursday as rallies taken out by outfits protesting the new waqf law overlapped with separate processions taken out by teachers who have lost their jobs and Left Front affiliates. The gridlock that started in the morning continued till evening KOLKATA: There should not be any problem with the salary of the teachers rendered jobless after last week's Supreme Court order, state education minister Bratya Basu said on Thursday.
Basu, in an interview to a Bengali news channel, cited CM Mamata Banerjee's assurance last Saturday - to the "eligible (untainted)" teachers and non-teaching staff that their jobs were secure - to back up his claim. The West Bengal School Service Commission, along with the state, was likely to move court for legal clarification and file a review petition soon, he indicated.
"I do not foresee any problem in (jobless teachers getting their) salary when the CM herself has assured the deprived teachers and other staff that their jobs were safe. They got their salary on April 1 and the SC verdict came after that. The next salary date is May 1, before which we will file a review petition with SC. Is there any scope for uncertainty in this case?" he asked.
Basu, SSC chairperson Siddhartha Majumder, West Bengal Board of Secondary Education president Ramanuj Ganguly, education secretary Binod Kumar and other officials will meet the "untainted" teachers on Friday. "We will listen to what they have to say. There are some who are trying to mislead them to serve their own political agenda. The board has already filed a petition before SC mentioning the dep-lorable condition of schools after losing such a large number of teachers and non-teaching staff," Basu said.
Bratya: Bid to tarnish Bengal's education system
Stating that there was a deliberate attempt to tarnish Bengal's education system, Basu said, "But I am confident about the new SSC and they will definitely have a clean and transparent recruitment procedure."
State seniors are likely to ask the jobless staffers at Friday's meeting,to return to school as the state has already initiated a legal process to help them get back their jobs. "The state, along with the SSC and the secondary board, is fighting a legal battle. They should return to their schools, which may help them fight the legal battle, too," the minister felt.
Deprived Teachers' Association convenor Mehebub Mandal said teachers, too, had queries, including salary-related matters, that they would like to clarify at the meeting. They plan to stage a protest next Wednesday at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, a day before the expected SC hearing next Thursday.
The teachers' salary portal is now functional and no change has been made yet to the list of names. Education department officials, however, have clarified that the names being there may not necessarily mean everyone will go on getting their salary; the state will have to seek a legal clarification to clear all the doubts.
Basu said the SSC already had a list of tainted teachers and non-teaching staff that had been placed in court. The state can also upload separate lists of tainted and untainted teachers and non-teaching staff based on legal advice.