In a major setback to the West Bengal government, the Calcutta High Court on Friday set aside the recruitment of about 36,000 primary teachers on the grounds that there were irregularities in their hiring process.
In his order, Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay said that the teachers would continue to work in the government’s schools for the next four months, but would only draw their salaries as para-teachers, not full-time teachers. The court directed that the State government would have to start and complete the recruitment process within the next three months. Justice Gangopadhyay also added that those whose jobs stand cancelled can also participate in the new recruitment process if they have already received teachers training. The grounds on which the recruitment has been cancelled is that the candidates had not been trained and no aptitude test for recruitment had been held.
The court also said that the cost of recruitment may be paid by former chairperson of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education Manik Bhattacharya, who remains behind bars for his alleged involvement in the State’s school job scam.
