Truth prevailed, jobs of 32,000 primary teachers secure: WB education minister on Cal HC order

Kolkata, Dec 3 (PTI) Hailing the Calcutta High Court division bench order setting aside a single bench ruling that annulled appointments of 32,000 primary school teachers in West Bengal, Education Minister Bratya Basu on Wednesday said truth has prevailed, and their jobs remained "safe and secure".

Basu also said that anyone can move the Supreme Court against this order but, he claimed, it "would identify the saboteurs behind any honest recruitment drive undertaken by the state government".

These 32,000 teachers were recruited in 2016 through the Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) panel of 2014 by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education. A division bench said it is not inclined to uphold the single bench order as irregularities have not been proven in all the recruitments.

Referring to the Supreme Court order in April that cancelled the appointment of nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff recruited through the State Level Selection Test (SLST) for classes 9-12, senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari claimed that thousands of deserving candidates suffered due to the "presence of tainted candidates" who were in the panel.

In a post on X, Basu said, "The jobs of 32,000 primary school teachers remain fully secure. My best wishes to the teachers. Truth has triumphed." He later told reporters that the division bench order proved beyond doubt the process by recruitment boards had always been fair and transparent and there were attempts by some quarters to "defeat the very purpose and objective of the Mamata Banerjee government to create more teaching job vacancies for educated, qualified youth of the state." For five years, the education department and bodies like West Bengal Primary Education Board and West Bengal Central School Service Commission had been subjected to vilification campaigns by certain members of the opposition camp as well as from a section of media, the minister claimed.

"The government and the Boards concerned had always strived to fix anomalies if any during the process, but the only aim was to create job opportunities and facilitate filling up posts in thousands of schools as per law and transparently," he said.

In a jibe at the detractors, he said, "Now it is clear who wanted to derail the recruitment process in TET and SLST. We are hopeful that providing jobs to the SSC candidates of 2025 SLST will also be accomplished soon, meeting the Supreme Court's December 31 deadline," he said.

To a question, Basu said anyone is free to move the Supreme Court challenging the order regarding TET 2014.

"But any such move will identify the saboteurs behind any honest recruitment drive undertaken by the state. The forces who will go against 32,000 primary teachers retaining their jobs will thereby stand exposed by their conspiracy," he said.

"I am happy that the honourable high court has taken into account the humane side of the issue, and saved 32,000 teachers and their families," he said.

To a question, Basu said he had nothing to comment on the ED and CBI probes into TET recruitment issue of 2014 and "whoever is found guilty should be punished and law will take its own course." BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari told reporters while the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court considered the SLST by SSC for assistant teachers of classes 9-12 from the "recruitment process" angle, another bench of the same high court looked at it from the 'humanitarian side'.

"I can't comment on the order of the judiciary. But apparently there were irregularities in the recruitment process in both TET and SLST. It is also true that thousands of deserving candidates suffered in both cases due to the presence of tainted candidates who were in the panel. The TMC is responsible for pushing them to such a situation," Adhikari said.

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

The court maintained that the termination of employment after nine years would have a great adverse impact on the primary teachers and their families. PTI SUS NN