A section of unemployed qualified teachers on Thursday came to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, demanding reinstatement of their teaching jobs in state-run schools. They also said that they will not participate in the fresh recruitment process announced by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), which will be held on September 7 and 14.
Tracing the case’s history
Post a major recruitment scandal, which led to the cancellation of roughly cancel nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching jobs. A group of previously-appointed, qualified teachers visited the West Bengal Assembly on Thursday to demand the cancellation of fresh School Service Commission (SSC) exams.
The scandal surrounding the 2016 West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment was uncovered through a series of legal petitions filed by meritorious candidates who were overlooked in the hiring process.
On April 3, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld a Calcutta High Court order to cancel nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching appointments from the 2016 recruitment process, citing fraud and irregularities. The ruling led to the immediate termination of the teachers’ services, many of whom had been working for years. The court noted that while some candidates were “untainted,” the recruitment process as a whole was “vitiated”. The 2016 process was found to have issued more appointment letters than sanctioned posts. Investigations revealed manipulated OMR sheets and allegations of bribes involving prominent political figures.
In protest, the unemployed teachers are demanding the immediate public release of a “clean” list identifying candidates from the 2016 process whose selection was not tainted by the scam. They are also calling for the creation of additional posts so that eligible, “untainted” candidates do not have to compete again.
What did Suman Biswas say?
Convenor of Unemployed Qualified Teachers Forum, Suman Biswas, said: “The list of tainted and ineligible candidates has already been published by WBSSC. If we consider this list as the most important, then the rest of the candidates are eligible.
Then why will the eligible candidates sit for the exam again? The Chief Minister should postpone this exam and publish the exact list of eligible candidates.” He said that they have written a letter to CM Mamata Banerjee mentioning their demands. “Why should the candidates who appeared in the 2016 SSC exam sit in the fresh exam? The state government must not mix old candidates with new candidates.
Therefore, the state government must postpone the fresh exams on September 7 and 14,” he added. A few days ago, members of the unemployed qualified teachers’ forum had given a call for a march to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly on Thursday. However, only a handful of individuals were allowed to hold the programme on Thursday.
As per the permission, about six such candidates came to the Assembly with Biswas holding a National flag. It should be noted that the Supreme Court verdict earlier this year resulted in the loss of about 26,000 teachers and non-teaching staff in state-run schools.
Following the apex court’s order, the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recently published the list of ‘tainted and ineligible’ candidates. After that, a section of ‘eligible’ candidates has demanded the publication of their list, and reinstatement of such candidates in teaching jobs which they lost.