The irregularities in appointments by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) is turning out to be an embarrassment for the Trinamool Congress government. Along with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the scam as per the instructions of the Calcutta High Court, the Enforcement Directorate has also started looking into money laundering allegations in the case. There are protests in Kolkata almost on a daily basis.
For the past several weeks, the police are having a difficult time warding off protests near the offices of State Education Department in Salt Lake. On Friday, members of the student and youth wings of the Left parties, under the leadership of DYFI State president Meenakshi Mukherjee, tried to gather in front of Acharya Bhawan – the headquarters of the WBSSC – protesting against the alleged irregularities in recruitment of teachers and non-teaching staff in State-run schools. Several student and youth activists were taken in custody by the police.
Two Ministers of West Bengal – Minister of State for Education Paresh Adhikary and Industry and Commerce Minister Partha Chatterjee – have been questioned by the CBI over the past one week. On Wednesday, Mr. Chatterjee, also secretary-general of the Trinamool Congress, was questioned for almost eight hours. The Central agency has registered four FIRs – two in April and two in May – on the instructions of the Calcutta High Court. Officials of the WBSSC and members of an advisory committee set up by Mr. Chatterjee have been named in the FIRs.
