"They Fear Bengal’s Talent”: Mamata Banerjee Vows Legal Fight After Top Court Scraps 25,000 Teaching Jobs

Kolkata, West Bengal: After a recent Supreme Court verdict scrapped over 25,000 appointments, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met thousands of teaching and non-teaching staffers who lost their jobs in government-run and aided schools. Assuring their jobs were “secure”, Banerjee announced a legal team to provide justice to the teachers.

The Supreme Court verdict upheld the Calcutta High Court’s order which cancelled 25,753 teacher appointments over irregularities in the recruitment process by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016.

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“For as long as I am alive, I will not let anyone snatch the jobs of eligible candidates,” she pledged on Monday during a speech at Kolkata’s Netaji Stadium where hundreds had gathered.

She added that while her government is “bound by the ruling” of the top court, they need to “explore all possible legal avenues to provide justice to those who have been affected.”

The legal team includes prominent Supreme Court lawyers Kapil Sibal, Kalyan Banerjee, Prashant Bhushan, and Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

The Chief Minister also added that she had a detailed meeting with the Chief Secretary shortly after the verdict, and a letter has been sent to the WBSSC.

Alleging a “conspiracy” to destroy the education system of West Bengal, Banerjee questioned the basis for labelling all teachers as “corrupt, tainted and incompetent”.

“In Tripura, 10,000 jobs were cancelled. The BJP said that when they would come to power, they would get it back…they did not, but in fact physically attacked those who tried to protest,” she said.

The TMC leader also drew a comparison with allegations of corruption in the NEET examination. “There were a lot of allegations against NEET but it was not cancelled, only Bengal is being targetted. You cannot deny that you all fear Bengal’s talent. Do not snatch the bread and butter of a family in the process of targetting my government,” she said.

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The West Bengal Chief Minister announced that she will first try to secure jobs for the “genuine” teachers and then review the evidence against the “tainted”.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA and West Bengal Legislative Assembly leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari, along with other BJP MLAs, protested against the state government on Monday. They demanded Banerjee’s resignation as chief minister and accused the TMC of corruption.