Submitted blank answers scripts, hired as teachers in Bengal primary schools: CBI probe finds

KOLKATA: Several officials of the West Bengal Education Department are involved in the irregularities in the recruitment of primary teachers, a senior CBI officer claimed on Saturday. The investigation so far has found that there are instances in which candidates were given appointments even after they submitted blank answer scripts, mentioning just their names and registration number, he alleged.

"There are several officials and junior-level workers, including clerks, who have been found to be involved in the irregularities in appointments in primary schools in West Bengal," the CBI officer told PTI. "We have found several answer sheets that are blank and only names and registration numbers written on them. These candidates were later given appointments," he alleged.

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Transactions involving huge amounts of cash between these officers and the candidates have happened before the appointments were made, the officer claimed, adding that the agency has unearthed evidence about this. The CBI is investigating allegations that primary teachers were recruited illegally in the state, on the direction of the Calcutta High Court.

The agency was asked on Wednesday by the court to investigate the allegations of "sale" of primary teachers' jobs by a resident of North 24 Parganas. Former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee has been questioned by the agency in the case. The court directed the CBI to file a status report on its probe on the next date of hearing on June 15.