The teacher’s recruitment scam was carried out in West Bengal by using the right of information, RTI to prevent corruption. The officials cleverly got their candidates passed with the help of this. While the passed candidates are protesting today, CBI and ED are investigating the matter. Many leaders of Mamta Banerjee government are under investigation.

  • RTI used as a weapon in Bengal SSC Scam
  • Those who didn’t cleared, they demanded a copy check again.
  • OMR sheets were replaced, old ones were destroyed

 

It is always said that a transparent system will always be effective. But today, the Teacher Recruitment Scam (WBSSC) was carried out in West Bengal by making the RTI a weapon. This is the same scam that has shaken the roots of the Mamata Banerjee government of the state. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Partha Chatterjee, who was Commerce Minister in his government. About 50 crore cash and jewelery worth more than Rs 4 crore have also been found from the house of Chatterjee’s close friend Arpita Mukherjee. The CBI is investigating the Bengal SSC scam. ED is probing money transactions in this case. When Partha Chatterjee was opposed within the party, CM Mamta Banerjee removed him from all posts. Other TMC leaders are also under the scanner.

First know what is West Bengal SSC Scam

The alleged scam dates back to 2014 when the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) issued a notification for the appointment of teachers in state-run schools in West Bengal through the State Level Selection Test (SLST). The recruitment process began in 2016 when Partha Chatterjee was the Minister-in-Charge of the Higher Education and School Education Department in West Bengal. However, a series of petitions were filed in the Calcutta High Court alleging anomalies in the recruitment process.

In the year 2016, West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) conducted the examination for the recruitment to the teaching and non-teaching posts under the Board of Secondary Education of West Bengal. The result came on 27 November 2017. After this the results released earlier were cancelled. The result was released again. In this the game was done. Many such candidates who had passed the results released earlier, their name disappeared in the second list.

The petitioners alleged that many examinees who got less marks ranked high on the merit list. And, there were several allegations that some applicants, who weren’t even on the merit list, received appointment letters.

Further, in a second but related case, the Bengal government in 2016 issued a notification to the School Service Commission (SSC) for the recruitment of 13,000 Group D staff in government-run or aided schools. The tenure of the panel responsible for said recruitment expired in 2019, but several petitions alleged that recruitment had taken place despite the expiration of the panel’s tenure and as many as 25 persons were allegedly appointed by the WBBSE.

However, during a hearing on the case, petitioners claimed that not just 25 but over 500 people were appointed after the SSC panel expired, and they were now drawing salaries from the state government.

Soon a CBI probe was launched in the case following an order by the Calcutta High Court bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay. As per a report in India Today, the appointment of 269 primary school teachers in Bengal government-sponsored and -aided schools were also termed illegal, after petitioners alleged that these candidates did not qualify for the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET).

The report added, “It is further alleged some of the TETs fail and/or ineligible candidates of TET 2014 got appointments as Assistant teachers in primary schools. A number of ineligible candidates who did not answer the question by answering the MCQ and submitted blank exam papers only mentioning their personal details got appointments as Assistant Teachers.”

Bengal industries and commerce minister Partha Chatterjee became involved in the scam when he held the education portfolio. Justice Gangopadhyay directed him to appear before the CBI for questioning.

At present, the scam is being jointly investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). While the CBI is probing the criminal aspect of the alleged recruitment scam, the ED is investigating the money laundering aspects.

How the scam got in the open?

How the scam got exposed is also very interesting. It happened that a candidate Babita Sarkar who was passed in the first list, her name got cut in the second. She was earlier in the top 20 with 77 numbers. When the result came again, his name went on the waiting list. Whereas Ankita Adhikari had only 61 numbers less than her. But she was selected and became a school teacher. Ankita is the daughter of West Bengal Education Minister Paresh Chandra Adhikari. Before Paresh, Partha Chatterjee was the Education Minister.

Babita approached the High Court. The court took cognizance of the matter and constituted a committee under the chairmanship of retired Justice Ranjit Kumar Bagh. The committee in its report recommended prosecution of the officials involved in the scam. It then recommended criminal action against the former chairman and professor of West Bengal School Service Commission. After this, it recommended to register a case against former advisor Ashok Kumar Saha, Shanti Sinha, program officer Samarjit Acharya and West Bengal School Service Commission chairman Kalyanmoy Ganguly. A case was registered against all this under several sections.

The Calcutta High Court handed over the investigation of the case to the Central Investigation Agency, CBI. Investigation started. The appointment of Ankita Sarkar, daughter of the Education Minister, was considered illegal. She had to return the salary of 41 months. The CBI said that there has been a lot of money transactions in this scam. The ED was also involved in its investigation.

How was RTI made a weapon?

The officers carried out this rigging with great cunningness. They used RTI for this. A CBI officer who is investigating the matter has also mentioned this in his statement. The candidates who had to pass were asked to get the copy checked again by applying RTI. So did happen and after this the OMR sheet was then rigged.

After increasing the number, the old OMR sheet was destroyed. Failed students were declared passed while successful students are protesting in Kolkata today.

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