The Supreme Court’s recent invalidation of the West Bengal School Service Commission’s (WBSSC) selection process of 2016, for teaching and non-teaching staff, has put the schools in the state in a fix. Now, they have to grapple with the issue of over 25,000 teaching and non-teaching staff losing their jobs.
The entire selection process was ‘vitiated and tainted beyond resolution,’ observed the bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna in its judgment. The bench upheld the Calcutta High Court’s direction to refund the salaries paid to the tainted candidates. The Supreme Court also ordered that a fresh selection process has to be initiated to fill the vacancies. It was a big blow for Mamata Banerjee’s government, which is under severe political pressure now. The SSC scam was among the biggest in recent times and saw the arrest of a former education minister and several influential politicians and bureaucrats of the state.
Realising that the widespread public anger and mistrust on the government, following the Supreme Court order, which can hurt, the chief minister promptly called a meeting with the jobless untainted teachers. To show the solidarity in the gathering, the chief minister stated: “I promise, no eligible teacher will lose their jobs and their service will not suffer from a break of service.” She also urged the Supreme Court to look at the issue passionately and protect the education system.
The state’s Secondary Education Board made an appeal to the Supreme Court for a modification of the 3 April order. In response, the court has allowed services of the terminated teachers, not found to be involved in any irregularities by CBI, to be retained until 31 December 2025. The court has also directed the state government to issue a fresh recruitment advertisement by 31 May and complete the recruitment process by 31 December.
No relief for non-teaching staff
This is a breather for the government to complete the fresh recruitment policy. A visibly pleased chief minister welcomed the order and stated that there was a sense of relief. But the untainted teaching staff are apprehensive about the future and are asking: ‘what will happen after 31 December’. The court, however, has not provided a similar relief for the non-teaching staff, stating that the number of tainted candidates among them was substantially high.
A majority among the teaching staff think that the Supreme Court judgment is contrarian and harsh. Since the court was asking the tainted to pay back what they have received, while the untainted did not have to, which means that tainted ones can be segregated. Then, why cancel the entire process?
N.G. Khaitan, senior advocate and partner, Khaitan & Co, agrees that the verdict of the Supreme Court is harsh on untainted candidates. However, he explains, “When an in-depth factual inquiry reveals systemic irregularities, such as malaise or fraud, that undermine the integrity of the entire selection process, the result should be cancelled in its entirety. Despite the inconvenience caused, due weightage has to be given to maintaining the purity of the selection process.”
Political parties in the opposition in Bengal are using this judgment as a weapon and demanding chief minister’s resignation They are also trying to hijack this mass movement of the protesting teachers to gain some mileage at the next year’s assembly election. The political propaganda continues against the chief minister, on the street as well as in the social media.
BJP’s state president Sukanta Majumdar has accused the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government of shielding corrupt practices. “The sole responsibility for this massive corruption lies with the failed chief minister. Under her rule, the merit of educated unemployed youth was sold in exchange for money,” Majumder remarked in his post on X.
The Trinamool Congress government is now bogged down with several allegations of rampant corruption and law and order situation, as also internal party feud. The timing for Supreme Court judgement could not have been worse for the party, as the assembly election of 2026 is looming close.
If the party wants to retain its majority, it needs to introspect, with the chief minister cracking the whip to weed out culprits, streamline the organisation and adopt the right philosophy for an image makeover, instead of pretending that all was well. It will now be interesting to see how the government will execute the fresh selection process efficiently and on time, as directed by the Supreme Court. People are watching and waiting!