Education minister Bratya Basu announced on Friday that the school service commission will likely upload a list on April 21 (Monday), identifying terminated teaching and non-teaching staff as either “tainted” or “not specifically tainted”.

“We had said earlier that we could come out with a list on April 21. We are working on that,” Basu told reporters at the Trinamool Congress party headquarters.

Sources within the school service commission expect clarification from the education department by Saturday. “If the department authorises the commission to upload the list, it will be done promptly,” they said.

This list holds significant importance following the Supreme Court’s April 17 order, which permits only teachers “found to be not specifically tainted” to return to classrooms until a fresh recruitment process is completed by December 31.

More than 17,000 teachers who received relief from the apex court’s judgment are anxiously awaiting the list to learn their status.

Education department sources revealed that their legal teams are thoroughly examining both Supreme Court orders — from April 3 and April 17 — before finalising decisions.

On April 3, the court ordered the termination of all 25,753 teaching and non-teaching employees, declaring the entire recruitment process “vitiated”. Then, on April 17, in response to an appeal by the state secondary education board, the court allowed untainted teachers to return to work to minimise disruption to students’ education.

The secondary board’s request for similar relief for non-teaching staff was rejected by the court, citing a “substantially high” number of tainted candidates among that group.

“Previously, the department only had the April 3 order to analyse. Now they must also review the April 17 order. Both rulings are being studied comprehensively before reaching a decision. The school service commission is also examining both orders in detail,” department sources explained.

The Telegraph reported on April 14 that the commission had already forwarded a complete list of terminated teaching and non-teaching staff to the school education department.

During a meeting with terminated school staff representatives on April 11, minister Basu had promised to categorise tainted and untainted employees by April 21, pending legal approval.

Following the April 17 Supreme Court order, the government must now further distinguish between not specifically tainted teachers and other school personnel.

Teachers maintaining a sit-in protest at the Y-channel expressed concern about
how they could return to schools on Monday without official confirmation of their eligibility.

“The commission possesses the list of tainted and untainted staff. Now that the Supreme Court has directed teachers to return to schools, this list must be published immediately. Otherwise, how can we resume our duties?” asked Sunanda Sarkar, who teaches at a higher secondary school in Barasat.

In accordance with the Supreme Court’s deadline, the commission is also preparing to conduct fresh recruitment tests.

The apex court bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar has permitted eligible teachers to continue until December 31 as an interim measure, requiring that notification for the new recruitment process be issued by May 31.

Failure to meet these deadlines will invalidate the current relief provisions. “We must proceed with preparations to comply with the April 17 order,” an education department official said.