‘How will we pay bills?’: SC order sparks outrage among Bengal teachers

Court order

A Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar on Thursday (April 3) upheld a Calcutta High Court order dated April 22, 2024, which annulled the appointments of 25,753 teachers and nonteaching staff in West Bengal government-run and aided schools. The apex court also directed the state government to initiate a fresh selection process within three months.

Also read: SC annuls jobs of 25,000 Bengal school teachers, orders fresh hirings

Calling the recruitment process “vitiated and tainted,” the bench said it lacked legitimacy and has irreparably damaged the integrity of the selection process.

The apex court, however, allowed certain disabled candidates to continue in service on humanitarian grounds.

Bills to pay, mouths to feed

The court’s order has left thousands of teachers and non-teaching staff in a quandary who are now worried about fending for their families, sending children to school, paying EMIs and looking after aging and ailing parents.

Asked if they expect any help from the state government at this juncture, several of the candidates have blamed the Trinamool Congress-led regime of bringing the ‘calamity’ upon them in the first place.

Also read: Bengal teacher recruitment scam: ED raids at multiple locations in Kolkata

“This government engineered this scam. What can we expect from them?” Pratap Roychowdhury, who teaches in a school in South 24 Parganas, told NDTV.

‘Grave injustice to untainted teachers’

The Supreme Court’s judgement has outraged many who say they cleared the exams on merit and now have to face the consequences for the alleged corruption of the state government.

Rajat Haldar, who was recruited as a teacher in 2016, told India Today that many teachers are suffering from the government’s corruption.

“There is no allegation against us and the 19,000 candidates like me. But still, the Supreme Court has declared us unqualified teachers,” he said.

"We are qualified teachers because the investigation agencies have not found any allegation against me. We are fully untainted teachers. The Supreme Court has done a grave injustice against an untainted candidate like me," he said.

Also read: Mamata must resign, she will go to jail: BJP

‘How will we look for new jobs now?’

The top court in its ruling said that candidates whose names did not come up during the investigation need not return their salaries received in the past eight years, while stressing that they nonetheless wouldn’t be allowed to continue in their jobs.

“We studied, cracked a competitive exam, and got a job. Some people resorted to corruption. It would not have been possible without the state government’s support. But those untainted like us were expecting that we would be able to continue in our jobs. This judgment has destroyed our lives. I have a nine-year-old daughter, my wife my mother. There are EMIs. How will we look for new jobs now?” Amit Ranjan Bhuyan, another teacher, told NDTV.

Bhuyan said it would have been easier for him to clear an entrance exam now if he were younger, but the chances are slim now.

“The confidence levels are different then. I am 39 now. Which job will I be eligible for? The Supreme Court has said we can take the same exam in three months. Is it possible to crack the same competitive exam after 10 years? I do not know whether I will be able to. The judgement gave the same punishment to those involved in corruption and those not involved,” he said.

Also read: Can't accept SC verdict, says Mamata Banerjee as she slams BJP for 'conspiracy'

Call to dismantle WBSSC

While the court has asked the state government to begin a new selection process in the next three months, many candidates have questioned if there is any guarantee that the new job drive would be free of corruption.

“If there is corruption and malfeasance, why not just do away with the panel entirely? The Supreme Court has delivered the judgment, it should also offer the solution,” Haldar told India Today.

‘Judges tried to save deserving candidates’

Soma Das, a school teacher whose job was not invalidated by the Supreme Court considering her serious medical illness, told PTI alleged that the West Bengal government and the WBSSC failed to furnish exact details before the judiciary about the total number of ineligible candidates.

Das, who is suffering from cancer, said, "The inability of the WBSSC and the state government to furnish appropriate details before the Calcutta High Court or later, Supreme Court, in hearing after hearing, about the exact number of candidates who allegedly got jobs through unfair means finally led to today's situation." Das said she empathised with those who lost their jobs "for no fault of theirs".

Also read: Bengal SSC 'scam': HC cancels 24,000 jobs, orders CBI probe

She said he had been present during several hearings related to the case and saw how the judges had tried to save the jobs of deserving qualified candidates, she added.

Stating that the onus lies with the state authorities, Das said, "They failed to present the case of the deserving candidates in a comprehensive manner."

Political slugfest

The Supreme Court’s order has sparked a political slugfest in West Bengal, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accusing the BJP and CPI(M) of conspiracy and the BJP holding the TMC government responsible for ruining the future of thousands of teachers.

Banerjee on Thursday said she respects the judiciary but disagrees with the Supreme Court's verdict on school appointments "on humanitarian grounds" and dared the BJP to arrest her for supporting the affected candidates.

Accusing the BJP and the CPI(M) of "hatching a conspiracy and influencing the verdict," Banerjee emphasised that while her government would abide by the ruling, it would explore all possible legal options.

"I have the utmost respect for the judiciary and judges, but from a humanitarian perspective, I cannot accept this judgment. As a citizen of this country, I have every right to express my opinion," she said at a press conference at the state secretariat.

Also read: SC calls Bengal school scam ‘systemic fraud’ but stays HC order annulling 25,753 appointments

"The ones whom you call tainted, we don't have proof regarding them. How can a single person's crime lead to punishment for all?" she said questioning the dismissal of all candidates, asserting that not all appointees were guilty of wrongdoing.