West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met with thousands of teaching and non-teaching personnel who lost their jobs at government-run and aided (SSC) schools following a recent Supreme Court decision that cancelled over 25,000 appointments, calling the recruiting process "vitiated".
“I stand by those who lost their jobs in schools in Bengal. I will do everything to restore their dignity,” she said, assuring hundreds of teachers gathered at Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor Stadium of her support, Hindustan Times reports.
She noted that while the state government is obliged to honour the Supreme Court's judgement, it "will take proactive steps to ensure the situation is handled with the utmost care and fairness."
“I will not allow eligible candidates to lose school jobs… I am ready to even go to jail if anyone wants to penalise me for standing with those who lost school jobs,” the Chief Minister said.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo further said that her name was being used in connection with something she was unaware of.
“We have separate plans to ensure eligible candidates don't become jobless or have a break in service,” Mamata Banerjee added.
The event was her first major public outreach since the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Court's ruling cancelling thousands of appointments due to procedural breaches and irregularities in the recruiting process.
On April 3, the Supreme Court annulled the appointments of 25,753 teachers and workers in Bengal's state-run and aided schools, finding the entire selection process "vitiated and tainted".
