HC order on school jobs termination emerges a key poll issue in West Bengal

Supreme Court is likely to hear the special leave petition of the West Bengal govt challenging the Calcutta HC order on termination of jobs of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff.

The Supreme Court on Monday is likely to hear the special leave petition of the West Bengal government challenging the Calcutta High Court order on termination of jobs of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff in State government-sponsored and aided schools.

These appointments were made through the State Level Selection Test 2016 and the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court on April 22 declared the selection process “null and void.”

The corruption in the school jobs has been rocking the politics of the State since July 2022, when former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate after more than ₹50 crore was recovered from the residence of his close aide.

However, the High Court order amid the ongoing Lok Sabha polls has turned the election campaign in Bengal on its head. Not only the sheer magnitude of termination of 25,753 employees but the years of protests of job aspirants who have been hitting the streets for the past two years demanding fresh recruitment has emerged as a key issue of the election campaign in the State.

Braving allegations of corruption in the recruitment process, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been targeting the BJP and accusing everyone from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lawyers of the CPI(M) and a section of judiciary for the termination of jobs. “These are people who eat away their jobs. The Prime Minister here only did a drama and said it is because of the Trinamool Congress. This is the Prime Minister who takes away jobs,” the Chief Minister said, addressing an election meeting at Kaliachak on Sunday.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson went on to accuse the BJP of controlling the court and said those behind the job losses are lawyers of the CPI(M) who have support of the Congress. The High Court, in its order, also directed the employees to return the salaries with 12% interest, something which the Chief Minister has been criticising at every public meeting since April 22.

The TMC leadership is also organising protests by employees whose services have been terminated. A protest was organised at Tamluk where former Calcutta High Court Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay is contesting on a BJP ticket.