"I used to be a bright student," laments Nabin Bera. He has spent years pursuing and qualifying for government service exams, only to achieve nothing.
"I am married and have a son, and I somehow manage to support us by giving tuition. My wife and I both qualified for SSC, TET, and Madrasa Service Commission exams, but did not secure a job," he shares.
Bera's personal anguish sums up the collective anguish of all the job seekers in West Bengal who have been victims of the recruitment scam.
In most of these cases, candidates who qualify for the exam fail to make it past that stage owing to undeserving candidates allegedly making it through personal connections or money. Merit lists are not released, seats aren't updated, and vacancies are allegedly filled through the back door. The few merit lists that are released have too many errors or no mention of marks at all.
Bera also shares that during his time in college, he ran for campus election on behalf of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which is the current ruling party in the state. However, his experience with government jobs has left him feeling disillusioned. “I wanted a change, and it was needed, but the moment one gets the throne, they become corrupt despots,” he says, adding, “The King changes, but the days don’t change.”
Starting in 2011, Nabin has been appearing for these teachers’ recruitment service exams, and more often than not, he qualifies for most but fails to secure a job owing to the prevalence of scams and corruption in the recruitment processes. "It has been so frustrating and discouraging. I find it so difficult to make ends meet, but I will not give up hope," says Nabin, who has been protesting for fair recruitment since 2015.
The loss of years
Reports suggest that around ten thousand individuals in West Bengal are currently protesting against various recruitment scams that they fell victim to while trying to secure a job. According to protesting candidates, recruitment scams are not just pertinent to the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) or the School Service Commissions (SSC) but prevail among almost every state-level government job recruitment process, including the College Service Commission (SSC), West Bengal Civil Service (WBCS) and more.
The State Coordinator of SSC Jubo Chatro Odhikar Manch, Sudip Mondal, who has also been protesting for years now, says that despite the years lost candidates are hopeful they will get the jobs they truly deserve.
Mondal himself appeared for the School Service Commission (SSC) state-level selection test in 2016 held to recruit teachers for Classes IX to XII but did not get the job. According to him, the entire recruitment process was made complex by the West Bengal SSC, which made it more conducive to such scams. “The commission did not release merit lists after the exam. We were left with just online access to our scores. So without our rank, we were left uncertain whether we've made the cut or not,” he says.
Similarly, Nabin Bera, alleged that while he scored more than fifty per cent and he failed to make the cut for the Madrasa exam, someone with far lower scores bagged the job. “No merit list was released and I was just informed that for my area, my scores did not meet the cut-off. However, I later learned that my neighbour was offered the job even though he secured only 20 marks,” he exclaims his dismay.
The process of the scams
Candidates have claimed that authorities have resorted to various means to manipulate the process.
The entire scam process involved disregarding any merit list. Without a merit list, few candidates would receive interview calls and word started spreading about jobs being sold. It is reported that the posts were sold for prices ranging from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 20 lakh, depending on the seniority of the position.
Candidates have also alleged that rules were blatantly disregarded, and everything came with a price tag attached to it, even a BEd degree. “Candidates without a BEd degree were selected for job posts that required one. Those who submitted a blank sheet or did not even appear for the test also bagged jobs. A few even managed to bump up their scores by paying people off,” claims Sudip.
This was in the same SSC Class IX-XII recruitment exam which was also the subject of an Enforcement Directorate investigation involving former Bengal Minister Parest Adhikari and his daughter Ankita Adhikari. The former minister is accused of using illegal means to secure a teaching job for Ankita in a state-run school in the Cooch Behar district.
The Calcutta High Court not only dismissed Ankita's job but also ordered her to return the salary she has drawn since 2018. Later, Paresh Adhikari was also removed from his position in the cabinet by Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee.
The inaction and protests
Sudip and other victims of the recruitment scam in West Bengal have been protesting since 2019. Initially, the protests were in front of the Press Club, where CM Mamata Banerjee and former education Minister Partha Chatterjee assured them jobs. “They asked us to just wait out the 2019 elections and promised that those on the merit list will be given jobs,” says Sudip.
However, he says when representatives were later sent from among their group for the meeting, the representatives themselves landed jobs and boycotted them. “They severed all connections with us after that,” he adds.
As a result, the protesters resumed their demonstrations in 2021 in front of Unnayan Bhaban. However, they were soon dispersed, and the new Education Minister Bratya Basu once again assured them of jobs. But according to Sudip, Minister Basu also hasn’t done much for their cause either.
“We have done it all, gheraoed his house, tried to meet so many times, but nothing so far,” says Sudip. Finally, in October 2021, the protesters started demonstrating in front of the Gandhi Statue, and the protest has been ongoing for 1,200 days. Meanwhile, court cases filed by several of these candidates are also ongoing at the Calcutta High Court.
The dying faith in system
Recently, the Chief Justice of India (CJI), DY Chandrachud, expressed concern over the ongoing scam during the hearing of a batch of petitions challenging the Calcutta High Court's decision to invalidate the appointment of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff in state-run and state-aided schools of West Bengal.
The CJI stated, "The public job is so scarce....nothing remains if the faith of the public goes. This is systemic fraud. Public jobs are extremely scarce today and are looked at for social mobility. What remains in the system if their appointments are also maligned? People will lose faith, how do you countenance this?"
The next SC hearing is due on July 16.
As the hearings continue, Nabin, Sudip, and others are calling for justice to be meted out fairly. They argue that not everyone should have to lose their jobs and that a clear distinction should be made between those who are deserving and those who are not. They believe that the commission must release a list of those affected by the scam to ensure that deserving candidates are not unfairly penalised.
“It is essential to maintain public faith in the system and that no deserving candidate should be deprived of their job. We are going to wait it out till the election but resume protests right after," says Nabin.
On June 13, the protesters aim to start the "Nobanno Cholo Obhijan" (Let’s go to Nabanna campaign).
