New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday met teachers who lost their jobs after the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Court order nullifying the appointment of over 25,000 teaching and non-teaching jobs in West Bengal government-run and aided schools, holding that the whole recruitment process was vitiated.
“My name being dragged into something about which I have no inkling. Bound by SC verdict on school jobs, but proactive steps are being taken to ensure the situation is handled with the utmost care, and fairness,” said Mamata Banerjee.
The meeting was held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in the capital city, where Banerjee said that she stands by those who lost jobs in schools, and will do everything to restore their dignity.
The Bengal CM also assured that a team of top lawyers including Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Kalyan Banerjee and others will be representing their side in the court. Hundreds of those who had lost their jobs had gathered outside the venue for a meeting with the CM.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Court’s decision to withdraw the recruitment of over 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016 for state-run and aided schools.
The bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar discovered that the selection process organised by the WBSSC involved many manipulations and fraud.
This ruling followed a petition from the West Bengal government, which challenged an April 2022 order from the Calcutta High Court that had rejected the recruitment of the teachers and staff.
