Bengal school service panel to submit details of latest recruitment test to Calcutta High Court this week

KOLKATA: The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) said on Wednesday that it has finalised a list of 14,052 candidates for appointment in state-run and –aided schools and all recruitment-related details will be duly submitted to the Calcutta High Court, a senior official said.

The high court, which is currently monitoring the probe into irregularities allegedly committed in the recruitment process in the past, will give necessary directions to the commission, and the follow-up action will be taken in accordance with the order, he said.

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Addressing a press meet, SSC chairman Siddhartha Majumdar said the commission will pray for a hearing on the matter by next week so that appointments do not get delayed. "The commission has finalised a panel of 14,052 candidates against 14,339 vacancies. It will make its submission to the court by this Friday, giving details of the recruitment process and then wait for a direction on the matter for follow-up action," Majumdar stated.

Various posts in state schools have been lying vacant as a recruitment test conducted by the commission in 2016 was scrapped by the court in 2020 in the wake of irregularities. The commission conducted fresh exams in 2021 to fill up the posts, results of which were published earlier last year.

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Majumdar said the SSC is committed to ensuring full transparency in the recruitment process. Several SSC candidates had been staging demonstrations in different parts of the state, alleging that they were deprived of jobs despite having cleared the eligibility exam.

"We will urge all agitating candidates to be patient. We understand your grievances. If there is merit in your case, we will do everything possible to see that justice is delivered," he said. Former education minister Partha Chatterjee, several senior officials, and leaders of the ruling TMC have been arrested in connection with the investigation by central agencies into recruitment-related irregularities.