Jubilant Bengal primary teachers celebrate after HC order

Kolkata, Dec 3 (PTI) Jubilant teachers smeared each other with 'gulal' and distributed sweets on Wednesday after a Calcutta High Court division bench set aside a single bench order that had scrapped the appointments of 32,000 primary school teachers recruited through the 2014 Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET).

One of the teachers, Bhanugopal Das, said the judgment brought immense relief.

"We are happy that the court understood that we got our jobs based on merit and qualifications after clearing the written test and interviews. After working for nine years in a primary school, we suddenly faced an uncertain future. We thank the judiciary for realising we were not tainted," he said, wiping his tears.

Another teacher, who did not wish to be named, said they had no political affiliations and had spent "sleepless nights" since May 12, 2023, when the single bench invalidated their appointments.

"I have two daughters. The HC order has come as a big relief," she said.

Babita Biswas, teacher of a primary school in Nadia, said, "Our respect and dignity had suffered. We were victims of a political conspiracy. Hope the media will report today's court order and observations by judges positively." Primary teacher job aspirant Priyanka Naskar, who had moved the high court after not receiving an interview call in 2016 despite qualifying TET 2014, said they had submitted documents highlighting alleged anomalies.

"Even today, the high court confirmed there were certain irregularities in the recruitment process. We endorse the observation that thousands of untainted teachers suffered because of the irregularities committed by a few. We hope those tainted ones will be identified and removed," she said, while wishing well to the teachers who were "suffering for years but finally vindicated".

The bench, presided by Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty, said it is not inclined to uphold the single bench order as irregularities have not been proven in all the recruitments. PTI SUS MNB