Teachers affected by the WBSSC job scam have given West Bengal’s Education Minister a May 26 deadline to address their grievances. Calling themselves “genuine” candidates, they threaten intensified protests if ignored, urging MPs to raise the issue in Parliament as legal battles continue in the Supreme Court.
Tensions are mounting in West Bengal as teachers who lost their jobs following a Supreme Court ruling in the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam case have issued a stern ultimatum to the state government. Members of the “Jogyo Shikshak-Shikshika Adhikar Mancha” (Genuine Teachers’ Rights Forum) have given Education Minister Bratya Basu a deadline of May 26 to meet with them and address their grievances. Failing this, they have threatened to escalate their agitation.
These teachers, who identify themselves as “untainted” or “genuine” candidates, claim that despite clearing the required exams and meeting all eligibility criteria, they have become collateral damage in the fallout of a recruitment scam they were not part of. “Despite being genuine candidates, we are facing the brunt of a corrupt recruitment process,” said one representative of the forum during a press briefing on Saturday. “We deserve to know what steps the government is taking, particularly regarding the review petition filed in the Supreme Court. If the Education Minister does not meet us by Monday, we will be compelled to launch a more aggressive protest.”
The forum has expressed frustration over what they describe as continued indifference from both Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Education Minister Bratya Basu. According to them, repeated appeals to both leaders have gone unanswered.
The group is now preparing to take their fight to the national stage. They plan to write letters to all Members of Parliament (MPs) from West Bengal—both from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha—urging them to raise the issue in Parliament. “We will approach MPs from both the ruling and opposition parties,” the spokesperson said, emphasizing that this is not a political issue but a question of justice and livelihood.
The crisis stems from a landmark ruling on April 3, when a Supreme Court bench led by then Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Sanjay Kumar upheld a Calcutta High Court order that annulled 25,753 school appointments made through the WBSSC. The court ruled that the selection panel had to be scrapped in its entirety due to systemic corruption and the authorities’ inability to distinguish between “tainted” and “untainted” candidates.
In response to the court’s decision, both the West Bengal government and the WBSSC have filed review petitions in the Supreme Court, seeking a reconsideration of the sweeping order. However, with no resolution in sight and livelihoods at stake, the “genuine” teachers say they are left with no choice but to fight for justice through public and political pressure.
As the May 26 deadline looms, all eyes are now on the state Education Minister. Whether he will engage with the protesting teachers or risk an escalation remains to be seen.
