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WB school recruitment scam: Rahul urges President to ensure those selected fairly get to keep their job
Public Lokpal
April 08, 2025
WB school recruitment scam: Rahul urges President to ensure those selected fairly get to keep their job
NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi Tuesday sought President Droupadi Murmu's intervention in ensuring that the candidates who were selected as teachers and non-teaching staffers in West Bengal's schools fairly are allowed to continue with their jobs.
In a major blow to the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court last week invalidated the appointment of 25,753 teachers and staffers in state-run and aided schools, terming the entire selection process "vitiated and tainted", thereby upholding the Calcutta High Court's 2024 verdict in the matter.
The case stemmed from the alleged irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission in which 23 lakh candidates appeared for 24,640 posts and a total of 25,753 appointment letters were issued.
Seeking a resolution of the matter, Gandhi, in his letter to the President, said, "I write to request your intervention into the case of thousands of qualified school teachers in West Bengal who have lost their jobs due to the cancellation of the teacher recruitment process by the judiciary."
"A delegation from the Shikshak Shikshika Adhikar Mancha (IX-X), a platform for affected teachers, apprised me of the matter and specifically requested me to write to you."
"The Calcutta High Court found serious irregularities in teacher recruitment and declared the entire process null and void. On April 3, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court judgment," the former Congress chief said.
Since the verdict, the teachers, as well as staffers who stand to be terminated have almost given up hope of any redressal, Gandhi said while adding that both judgements found that some candidates were untainted, selected through fair means and some tainted, selected through unfair means.
"Any crime committed during recruitment should be condemned and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. However, treating teachers selected through fair means on par with tainted teachers is a serious injustice," he said and pointed out that most "untainted" teachers have served for nearly a decade.
"Terminating them will force lakhs of students into classrooms without adequate teachers. Their arbitrary termination will destroy their morale and motivation to serve, and deprive their families of what is often the sole source of income," he said in his letter to Murmu dated April 7.
In the letter, he added, "Madam, you have served as a teacher yourself. I am sure you understand the enormous human cost of this injustice - to the teachers, their families and their students."
"I request you to kindly consider their request favourably and urge the government to intervene in the matter to ensure that candidates selected through fair means are allowed to continue," Gandhi added.
With the Supreme Court verdict causing widespread discontent, the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) has moved the top court seeking 'modification' in its order.
PTI
