PTI, Kolkata, April 4: The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) on Friday said it would abide by the Supreme Court’s directive and soon initiate the process of conducting fresh examinations for all teaching and non-teaching candidates who participated in the now-invalidated 2016 recruitment drive.
Speaking to reporters a day after the apex court annulled the appointments of 25,752 teachers and staff in state-run and state-aided schools, WBSSC Chairman Siddhartha Majumdar said the commission would seek legal advice regarding the eligibility of candidates who can appear for the fresh tests.
“About 26 lakh candidates had applied for the 2016 exams, and around 22 lakh appeared. Of them, nearly 1.41 lakh were candidates for Classes 9–10, and around 1.5 lakh sat for recruitment in Classes 11–12. The rest were applicants for non-teaching posts,” Majumdar said. “Although the Supreme Court has directed us to initiate the selection process to fill the vacancies, we need legal clarification on whether new candidates will also be eligible to participate in the fresh exams,” he added.
The chairman also clarified that due to the sheer volume of candidates involved, completing the selection process within three months was unlikely. “There is no mention of a three-month deadline in the court order. This is a long process, and we are unlikely to finish it within that timeframe,” Majumdar said. “We will initiate the process of re-examining the 22 lakh candidates as soon as possible. We will also make our recommendations to the school education department, but we cannot share further details at this stage,” he noted.
Following the Supreme Court verdict, 12,905 teachers in Classes 9 and 10 lost their jobs. In Classes 11 and 12, 5,712 teachers were affected. The remaining among the nearly 26,000 terminated employees belong to the Group C and D non-teaching staff categories.
In its judgment, the apex court criticized the WBSSC, stating it had “intentionally” concealed lapses and illegalities in the recruitment process. It upheld the Calcutta High Court’s findings of irregularities on 17 counts.
When asked about the commission’s alleged failure to differentiate between tainted and deserving candidates—leading to the mass cancellation of appointments—Majumdar said, “We did submit the figures in sworn affidavits. It’s a different matter that we could not satisfy the court with our submissions.”
Meanwhile, State Education Minister Bratya Basu on Friday said the government would act in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directives. Speaking to reporters at Bikash Bhavan, the state education headquarters, Basu said:
“The Honourable Supreme Court itself used the term ‘tainted’ in its judgment, confirming the SSC’s earlier submission about the presence of both tainted and untainted candidates in the 2016 recruitment process. However, the SC also said it was not satisfied with the SSC’s submission. As the SSC chairman mentioned earlier, they will seek further guidance from the court on this issue. Our legal experts will advise us on the way forward.”
“As Education Minister, I want to state that we stand with the deprived and deserving candidates—both from an academic and political standpoint,” he added.
Responding to media reports that 17,000 of the 26,000 affected teachers did not attend school following the SC verdict, Basu said he had no official confirmation of the same.
