The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has written to President Droupadi Murmu seeking her intervention to ensure that “untainted” teachers in Bengal who have been sacked by a Supreme Court order do not lose their jobs.
Rahul also forwarded a representation he had received from the Shikshak Shikshika Adhikar Manch (IX-X), a platform of affected teachers that had met him and urged him to write to the President.
Reminding Murmu of her stint as a teacher, Rahul requested her in the letter on Monday to urge the Centre to intervene and ensure that candidates selected through fair means are allowed to continue in service.
Referring to the Supreme Court verdict of April 3 that upheld the Calcutta High Court judgment quashing the appointment of 25,773 teaching and non-teaching staff, the Congress leader pointed out that both judgments found that there were candidates who had been selected through fair means.
“Both tainted and untainted teachers have lost their jobs. Any crime committed during recruitment should be condemned and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. However, treating teachers selected through fair means on par with tainted teachers is a serious injustice. Most ‘untainted’ teachers have served for nearly a decade. Terminating them will force lakhs of students into classrooms without adequate teachers. Their arbitrary termination will destroy their morale and motivation to serve, and deprive their families of what is often the sole source of income,” Rahul wrote.
Rahul pointed out that the terminated teachers and non-teaching staff have almost given up hope of any redress.
“Madam, you have served as a teacher yourself. I am sure you understand the enormous human cost of this injustice — to the teachers, their families and their students.
“I request you to kindly consider their request favourably and urge the government to intervene in the matter to ensure that candidates selected through fair means are allowed to continue,” Rahul wrote.