PTI, May 27, 2025, Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said her government will start a fresh process for recruiting teachers following the Supreme Court directive, while simultaneously pursuing the review petition seeking reinstatement of those who lost their jobs.
Appealing to the teachers who lost their jobs to take part in the fresh process, Banerjee said they will be given the benefit of their experience and age relaxation.
The teachers, who have been agitating after their appointments were invalidated by the Supreme Court on April 3, said they felt “disappointed and shattered” by the announcements made by the CM.
“We want all those teachers who lost their jobs to get their jobs back. But we also have to follow the Supreme Court directive on issuing the notification by May 31. I want to tell you that we have been compelled to do this (the fresh recruitment). Do not think we are agreeably doing this,” she said, addressing a press conference.
“Both the review petition and the process of issuing the notification will go on simultaneously,” she said.
Banerjee said the state government has been waiting for days for the Supreme Court to take up the review petition.
“But, summer vacation is going on at the Supreme Court, due to which it could not be heard. In our petition, we have mentioned that we do not want those who were working to lose their jobs. If there is an order based on the review petition that the jobs will not be cancelled, and those who were working can continue, then we will follow that,” she said.
Banerjee’s statement came amid massive protests by the teaching and non-teaching staff of state-backed schools, who lost their jobs because of the SC order in the School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment scam.
Announcing relief in the fresh recruitment process for the teachers who lost their jobs, the CM said, “Age will not be a barrier. Those who lost their jobs will be allowed to sit for the exam even if they have crossed the usual age limit. They will also receive the benefit of their experience.”
She said the notification will be issued on May 30, and the online applications for the fresh recruitment will begin on June 16. It will continue till July 14, and the panel will be published on November 15.
Banerjee said the government was aiming to complete the process by November-end.
“Written test, scrutiny, challenge, result publication and interview shall be completed in the meantime, if we do not get any result in the review petition,” she said.
The recruitment process will be conducted for 24,203 posts deemed to be vacant, she said.
Appealing to the teachers who lost their jobs to take part in the process, Banerjee said, “It will not be right for you to say that you will not take part in it, then you will not have the job. This is not our order. Some selfish people are behind this. The government did not go to court.”
“Sit for the examinations and save yourself. Use the opportunity to the fullest,” Banerjee said.
The appointments of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff of state-aided schools were invalidated by the Supreme Court on April 3, describing the recruitment process conducted in 2016 as “vitiated and tainted”.
It had mandated the SSC to start a fresh recruitment process by issuing a notification before May 31 and complete the process by December 31.
The teachers who lost their jobs said that by asking to participate in the fresh recruitment process, the state government has virtually signed the death warrant for eligible teaching and non-teaching staff whose appointments were invalidated by the SC.
“We had apprehension that the government is forcing us to sit for the test again, and our apprehensions turned out to be true,” said Brindaban Ghosh, a member of the Deserving Teachers Rights Forum.
Another member of the forum, Habibur Rahman, said the government should make a serious attempt to expedite the process of hearing of the review petition.
“The government has the role and responsibility to protect the interests of untainted jobless teaching and non-teaching staff. We did not find the words of the CM reassuring enough,” he said.
“If we have to sit for competitive exams and qualify, what will be the syllabus for it? Will we have to sit along with our students of the 2018-19 and later batches who will also apply for exams?” he asked.
Rahman said the age relaxation and weightage to working experience “don’t cut much ice as we cannot start the process after all these years”.
Another teacher, Poulomi Dey, who had been sitting on dharna outside the Education Department’s office for the last 21 days, told PTI, “It is not clear why we are being asked to sit for the exams to prove our abilities for the second time.”
