Mamata’s meet today a flicker of hope for jobless

Kolkata: Thousands of teachers and non-teaching staff of the state-aided schools who were rendered jobless following the Supreme Court order in the SSC recruitment scam, are eagerly waiting for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s address at Netaji Indoor Stadium on Monday that could help renew hopes.

The genuine candidates whose segregation was possible are hopeful they would get their jobs back. A day before CM’s scheduled meet, the affected individuals said that they were recruited through the 2016 SLST and were not involved in any malpractice. They would request Banerjee for reinstatement.

Mehbub Mondal, speaking on behalf of the group of eligible candidates, stated: “We were qualified. Still, the entire panel was scrapped. This is not justice.”

“We are going to the meeting to tell the CM that it is her responsibility to save us. We are not asking for favours. We earned our jobs based on merit, received salaries and now we want our jobs back with dignity and security until retirement,” Mondal added.

The group has, however, warned that if any ‘tainted’ candidates attend Monday’s meeting, they will protest and boycott it. They

also issued passes to the qualified individuals.

Chinmay Mondal, another affected teacher, said many were facing mental distress. “Some have attempted suicide. If no solution is found, we may apply en masse for euthanasia to the President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice and Human Rights Commission,” he added

The Supreme Court in its verdict cancelled the appointments of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff. Incidentally, the School Service Commission (SSC) had earlier submitted an affidavit saying that in teachers recruitment under IX-X level, alleged irregularities surfaced in around 993 cases while in case XI-XII assistant teachers, irregularities allegedly occurred in 810 cases. In the case of Group C, recruitment irregularities occurred in 783 cases. OMR issues were there in 1,741 cases in case of group D recruitment.

The day the verdict was delivered, the Chief Minister had said that the court could have taken a more humanitarian approach. She stated that she has the highest respect for the judiciary and judges, but she cannot accept the judgement from a humanitarian point of view.

“We cannot criticise the judges but I can express my opinion about the verdict…the state government will however implement the Supreme

Court order and start the selection process within three months as per the order,” Banerjee had stated.