Thousands of teachers across West Bengal are reeling from a severe blow to their careers after the Supreme Court annulled their appointments over large-scale irregularities in the recruitment process conducted by the state’s School Service Commission (SSC).
According to India Today, the apex court’s ruling on Thursday affected 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff, declaring their appointments “vitiated and tainted” due to widespread manipulation and fraud. The verdict has triggered anger and despair among educators, many of whom insist they were hired on merit and are now being punished for systemic corruption.
Rajat Haldar, a teacher appointed in 2016, voiced his anguish, telling India Today, “There is no allegation against us and the 19,000 candidates like me. But still, the Supreme Court has declared us unqualified teachers.”
Calling the judgement “a grave injustice,” Haldar added, “We are qualified teachers because the investigation agencies have not found any allegation against me. We are fully untainted teachers.”
Haldar also questioned the efficacy of the court-mandated fresh recruitment process to be held within three months. “If there is corruption and malfeasance, why not just do away with the panel (SSC) entirely? The Supreme Court has delivered the judgment, it should also offer the solution,” he said, adding that the affected teachers plan to file a review petition.
Another teacher, Shahni Nazneen, called the judgement “unacceptable” and demanded evidence of wrongdoing. “CBI submitted a list of tainted and untainted candidates in court. Why are we untainted teachers being punished by taking our jobs away?” she asked, as quoted by India Today.
The Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, upheld an earlier Calcutta High Court decision from 22 April 2024, which had scrapped the appointments. The apex court observed that the selection process had suffered from “manipulations and frauds on a large scale, coupled with the attempted cover-up,” thereby eroding its legitimacy beyond repair. It further ruled that the process violated Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution, concerning equality before the law and equal opportunity in public employment.
Several Schools Left With Shortages In Teaching Staff: ‘Entire Education System Will Collapse’
Teachers across the state are expressing shock and confusion, especially in schools where over half the staff have been affected. As per ABP Ananda, several schools in Bengal are left with massive teacher shortages. In Durgapur’s Nepali Para Hindi High School, headmaster Kalimul Haque said, “From today, how will we run classes? I have no idea. We had 8 teachers, all 8 have lost their jobs. There are many such schools across the state. This will impact the entire education system and cause it to collapse.”
In the same school, out of 24 teachers, 8 lost their jobs. “How will we manage the school now?” he lamented.
In Farakka block of Murshidabad, more than 50 percent of the staff at Arjunpur High School have lost their jobs. The school had 67 teachers, of whom 36 have been dismissed. With over 8,000 students, school management is at a loss.
In Bhagabangola Uchcha Balika Vidyalaya in the same district, 21 out of 62 teachers have been terminated. “Exams are due to begin tomorrow. If so many teachers leave, our school will obviously be severely disrupted,” said acting headmistress Dipanwita Ray, as quoted by ABP Ananda.
Teachers also raised concerns about their role in ongoing academic processes. Many of those whose jobs have been annulled are currently involved in evaluating higher secondary examination papers. West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education President Chiranjib Bhattacharya told ABP Ananda, “Some of them are indeed checking answer sheets. We are reviewing the situation to determine what can be done.”
‘We Are Doomed For Life’: Sacked Teachers On Supporting Families With Prep For Re-Exam
Meanwhile, the human cost of the verdict is evident in the stories of teachers like Saikat Ghosh, reported by The Times of India. For six years, Ghosh commuted from Chandernagore to South 24 Parganas to teach history. “I got this job on merit and joined the school as a teacher on February 28, 2019. After years of service, I was let go due to corruption, not my fault,” he said. Supporting a family of seven, including a toddler and elderly relatives, he added, “We are doomed for life.”
Deepa Mondal, a science teacher also from South 24 Parganas, expressed the emotional toll of reappearing for an exam over a decade later. “We were mentally prepared for the exam in 2014. I was not married. I did not have kids. Now I have a family to support, raise two children, and a home loan to pay. Under such a scenario, I do not know how it is possible to appear in another exam,” she told TOI.
Opposition parties have blamed the Trinamool Congress-led state government for the crisis, accusing it of overseeing a recruitment process riddled with corruption. Activists of the SFI and DYFI held a protest in Kolkata on Friday, demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the Supreme Court invalidating the appointments of nearly 26,000 government teachers because of corruption.
Doonited Affiliated: Syndicate News Hunt
This report has been published as part of an auto-generated syndicated wire feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been modified or edited by Doonited
