SSC sends list of 'tainted', 'untainted' candidates to Bengal education department

NEW DELHI: Amidst ongoing protests by sacked teachers of secondary and higher secondary schools, the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) has sent a list of ‘tainted’ and ‘untainted’ candidates to the state education department for cross-verification, a senior official said on Monday. The list, dispatched on April 13, reportedly segregates candidates affected by the Supreme Court’s April 3 order, which invalidated the appointments of around 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff due to large-scale irregularities in the 2016 recruitment process.

According to the official, the list categorises tainted candidates as those with discrepancies in their OMR sheets or those who allegedly secured jobs by jumping ranks through fraudulent means. It also includes details of ‘untainted’ or deserving candidates who qualified purely on merit.

Awaiting expert legal opinion

"The list is currently being cross-verified," the official said. Education Minister Bratya Basu had earlier announced that the list would be made public on the WBSSC website by April 21, following legal consultation. "We will seek advice from legal experts before publishing the names," he said on April 11.

WBSSC chairman Siddhartha Majumdar could not be contacted for comments. Following the apex court’s ruling, many of the dismissed teachers have argued that the SSC failed to distinguish between fraudulent and legitimate candidates, resulting in a blanket cancellation of all appointments. Protesters, claiming to be "untainted," have been urging the state government and SSC to find a mechanism for reinstating deserving candidates.