Teacher Recruitment Scam: Massive Irregularities Alleged in Teacher Recruitment Scam

Teacher Recruitment Scam: Kolkata: The fate of 32,000 job aspirants now hangs on the verdict of a special bench of the Calcutta High Court. A hearing is underway before the division bench of Justice Taptabrata Chakraborty and Justice Ritobrata Mitra regarding a case filed over allegations of corruption in the 2016 panel and the 2017 recruitment process. This case has caused a significant stir across the state.

What are the key allegations in the case?

The petitioner’s lawyer, Tarunjyoti Tiwary, argued for nearly two hours in court. In his statement, he highlighted several serious inconsistencies in the recruitment process. The main allegations are:

• Irregularities in panel creation: It is alleged that no proper panel was formed for the appointments. Instead, a third-party company, S. Basu Roy & Company, was tasked with the selection of candidates, which is completely against the rules.
• Violation of reservation policy: One of the most serious allegations is the gross violation of the reservation policy. It is claimed that meritorious candidates from reserved categories were not given a fair chance in the unreserved categories, which is contrary to constitutional rights.
• Discrepancies in the aptitude test: Suspicions of corruption deepened after it was revealed that around 2,000 candidates received identical scores in both their viva and aptitude tests. Questions have been raised as to how so many candidates could have the exact same marks.
• Irregularities in para-teachers’ marks: For para-teachers, fractional marks were used in the calculations, which is against the recruitment rules.
• More appointments than vacancies: The lawyers informed the court that more candidates were appointed than the number of available vacancies, which further complicates this alleged scam.

Lawyer’s Statement and the Future of the Case

Tarunjyoti Tiwary stated that their goal is not to take away anyone’s job but to ensure that deserving candidates are employed and the undeserving ones are identified. He expressed satisfaction with his arguments presented in court.

Arguments from several more senior lawyers are still pending. It is expected that the hearing in this case will conclude before the Durga Puja holidays, and the verdict is likely to be delivered after the break. What the future holds for the 32,000 job aspirants, only time will tell.