‘Return to work, will reinstate you in 2 months’: Mamata tells sacked teachers

KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday promised that her government would find a way to save the jobs of what she termed were deserving candidates following the orders of the Supreme Court in the bribes-for-jobs case, and urged teaching- and non-teaching staff to continue working.

“Till I am alive I won’t allow anyone to take away jobs of the deserving candidates. This is my commitment. Don’t think we have accepted this (verdict). I may be sent to jail for saying this. But I don’t care,” Banerjee said while addressing a gathering of affected teachers at Kolkata’s Netaji Indoor Stadium.

“Do you think I am a fool that I will cancel all the jobs despite knowing they are deserving? This can’t be. Have faith.”

Last week the Supreme Court cancelled the jobs of 25,752 teaching- and non-teaching staff in state-run schools in the bribes-for-jobs case.

“Even if the Supreme Court doesn’t give a favourable order, the state government will ensure that you are reinstated within two months through a process. You won’t have to suffer any break in service,” she added.

The chief minister did not elaborate on the “process”.

“First we would seek a clarification from the court. What will the affected people do? Who will run the school? Who would do the job?” she said.

“We will be grateful if the clarification comes. Else we will fill the gaps. We will find a way to stand beside you. You don’t have to suffer for 20 years if you suffer for two months. And I will compensate for those two months too. You don’t have to beg. I keep my word,” she added.

Those who lost their jobs were all empanelled in 2016. A bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna on April 3 scrapped the appointment of 25,752 teachers and staffers in West Bengal’s state-aided schools after finding the selection process tainted with large-scale fraud and manipulation. The top court said it had no option but to scrap the entire panel because there was no way left to differentiate between tainted and untainted employees.

“In the Vyapam case in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, so many people were killed. They have not got justice till today. In NEET, many allegations surfaced. The Supreme Court did not cancel the examination. Why is Bengal being targeted? We want to know. You are scared of Bengal’s talent,” she said.

The chief minister also promised to look into the case of those who have been branded as non-deserving.

Banerjee also launched a scathing attack against the BJP, calling the party a “two-headed cobra”.

“I have lost my job. We wanted justice. We submitted all the documents. But still we received this verdict. People are now taunting us and asking us how much bribe we paid,” said a school teacher who lost her job.

Banerjee’s outreach to the teachers comes amid a sharp campaign by the Bharatiya Janata Party against the ruling Trinamool Congress over the case. On Monday,

Suvendu Adhikari, BJP legislator and leader of the opposition in state assembly blamed the chief minister for the termination of the staffers and accused her government of repeatedly failing to submit the list of eligible and tainted candidates to the Supreme Court.

He urged the terminated teaching and non-teaching staff to file review petitions before the Supreme Court and announced that BJP MLAs would bear the legal costs if necessary.

“The state still has a chance. Submit the list by April 15. Otherwise, on April 21, we will march to Nabanna with one lakh people. This will be a non-political, people’s movement. We will sit in dharna, and if needed, we will push this government out of power,” Adhikari told reporters.

The case stemmed from the alleged irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process conducted by the WBSSC in which 2.3 million candidates appeared for 24,640 posts and a total of 25,753 appointment letters were issued in 2016. Former West Bengal education minister Partha Chatterjee and TMC lawmakers Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha are among the accused being probed in the recruitment case.