Today, Monday, April 22, the Calcutta High Court (HC) declared the recruitment process of State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools as “null”, ordering cancellation of all appointments made through it.
This move by Calcutta High Court has caused a slugfest in the state, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) planning to move the Supreme Court against the same.
The judgement has received mixed responses from the school job aspirants as well. While some rejoice, several feel that it will also adversely affect deserving candidates.
Achinta Dhara, a 2014 TET-qualified candidate who endured eight years of job deprivation, expressed, “The truth is inevitable, and those who were unlawfully recruited will inevitably lose their positions. Yet, it's disheartening to see deserving candidates, who rightfully earned their jobs, now facing termination. It's reasonable to assume that at least five per cent of the 24,000 appointees were honest candidates.”
The Calcutta HC also ruled that those who were unlawfully recruited must repay the full salary they received for the period they were employed with 12 per cent annual interest.
For more than three years, several school job candidates in West Bengal had been protesting in Kolkata.
“The upcoming recruitment process should be conducted under court supervision to prevent such malpractices. While political games persist, it's distressing that those who have been wronged and those who are protesting still haven't received any relief. The court should intervene to address this,” Achinta added.
Over 23 lakh candidates had appeared for the SLST-2016 for 24,640 vacant posts. A total of 25,753 appointment letters were issued against the vacancies, said Firdaus Shamim, a lawyer for some of the petitioners.
Arnab Ghosh, another 2014 TET qualified candidate who, alongside Achinta Dhara and others, has been leading protests in West Bengal against the recruitment scam, told EdexLive, "Although this pertains to SSC and not the primary TET examination we were protesting for, our cause remains unchanged. However, this decision will also adversely affect deserving candidates who secured their positions through legitimate means. Despite the court's directive to disclose the names of unlawfully recruited candidates, the commission failed to comply. This has only complicated matters further.”
