Thousands of terminated school teachers are urging the Bengal government to push back the application window for a fresh recruitment drive, citing concerns over the timing of Supreme Court review petitions.
The school service commission (SSC) has scheduled the online application
process to begin on June 16 and close on July 14. However, the affected teachers want the process deferred until after the Supreme Court decides on review petitions challenging the mass termination order filed by both the state government and the commission.
The apex court terminated 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff positions on April 3, saying the entire hiring process was “vitiated”.
In a modified order on April 17, the court allowed 15,403 teachers “not specifically found to be tainted” to continue working until December 31. These teachers must participate in the fresh recruitment process if they wish to retain their jobs beyond that date.
The court is expected to hear the review petitions in July. The Supreme Court will resume after its summer recess on July 15, just one day after the current application deadline.
Teachers’ concerns
The Deserving Teachers’ Rights Forum, representing the terminated teachers, plans to march to the SSC office on Thursday to press their demands. They want at least the July 14 application deadline pushed back.
“We have seen that the last date of submitting the application forms has been fixed a day before the Supreme Court resumes after the summer vacation. Is this not a ploy?” asked Chinmoy Mandal, joint convenor of the forum.
“Could they not have extended the last date? Or could they not have stopped the entire exercise till the disposal of the review petitions?”
Mehboob Mandal, a forum spokesperson, said the entire recruitment process should be suspended until the Supreme Court delivers its final verdict.
Impact on teachers
Many of the teachers categorised as “not specifically found to be tainted” will likely base their decision to participate in the recruitment drive on the outcome of the review
petitions.
If the Supreme Court rejects the petitions after the application window closes, these teachers will lose their chance to apply for the fresh recruitment.
Govt & SSC plea
The Bengal government’s review petition argues that the court failed to recognise that over 18,000 candidates “not specifically found tainted” are suffering “for the alleged illegality committed by the SSC in the selection process in respect of certain other tainted candidates”.
Similarly, the SSC contended in its petition that since tainted candidates could be identified separately, it was unclear why the court ordered cancellation of the entire selection process.
Scheduling dilemma
The SSC has tentatively scheduled the fresh selection tests for the first week of September. Teachers question why the application window cannot be delayed if the state is awaiting the review petition outcomes.
“If the state has stopped short of announcing the dates of the selection tests because it is looking forward to the outcome of the review options, why not defer the window of form filling till the court delivers its order?” asked a teacher.
Official response
SSC chairperson Siddhartha Majumdar did not respond to calls seeking comment.
An education department official defended the timeline, citing the Supreme Court’s December 31 deadline for completing the hiring process.
“If we delay the submission of forms, we might struggle in meeting the deadline,” the official said.
The dispute highlights the ongoing challenges in addressing systemic irregularities while ensuring fair treatment for potentially innocent employees caught in the
controversy.
