As many as 53 primary teachers are dismissed from their services in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools for irregularities in their recruitment. The Calcutta High Court ordered this dismissal and in an earlier direction, as many as 269 persons had been terminated from their services. The 53 persons are part of 269 persons.
The Supreme Court had directed that these 269 persons be given an opportunity to be heard by the high court. As per this order, 54 primary teachers moved the court of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who had ordered the termination of their service and submitted affidavits. After perusal of their submissions, Justice Gangopadhyay on Friday ordered the dismissal of 53 of these primary teachers.
Regarding the teachers who have qualified Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) in 2014, Justice Gangopadhyay had ordered a CBI investigation in the matter. This judgement was passed noting severe irregularities in appointments of teachers by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education on petitions by candidates who claimed to have been denied jobs despite qualifying TET 2014.
Moreover, an order to terminate about 269 primary teachers jobs was passed as these persons got the jobs through manipulation of marks and ranks in the results of the TET. The petitioners, before the single bench, had alleged that although they appeared for TET-2014, no list containing the marks of candidates and indicating their respective merit positions was ever published and that an additional panel of 273 candidates was prepared illegally, who were granted one additional mark out of over 20 lakh candidates who appeared for the TET, as stated in a report by PTI.
Also, it was claimed that it is because of this one additional mark, about 269 candidates were qualified for the job of teachers and subsequently got appointments. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former primary school board chairman Manik Bhattacharya, who is a ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA from Palashipara in Nadia. ED is also probing the money trail in the matter.
