– Mita Mukherjee

A large number of candidates empanelled after reappearing for the State Level Selection Test for teaching posts in Classes XI and XII in state-aided schools are facing indefinite job uncertainty after the West Bengal Central School Service Commission (WBSSC) adjourned the counselling process scheduled to begin on August 14.

The empanelled candidates include “untainted” teachers and non-teaching members of state schools.
The “untainted” teachers had to reappear in a fresh exam as their appointments given under the 2016 panel were cancelled by the Supreme Court over irregularities in the recruitment process.

The notice announcing the stalling of the counselling of candidates was issued by the SSC in view of a complication over reservation of posts for OBC candidates following a decision of the new BJP government to reduce the OBC reservation from 17 percent to seven percent.

SSC chairperson Dushyant Nariala said on Tuesday that the counselling had to be stalled against the backdrop of the OBC quota impasse.

Since the Trinamool Congress government had raised the OBC reservation to 17 percent, a number of empanelled candidates received recommendation letters for counselling based on the previous 17 percent quota. Sources in the SSC said since the present government amended the reservation, the commission will now have to take legal opinion to ensure that the selected candidates do not face problem in the future.

The top court had directed the state government to complete the fresh recruitment process within August 31. SSC officials said the commission will file a petition to the Supreme Court seeking extension of the August 31 deadline.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education on Tuesday kept in “abeyance” police verification of more than 250 candidates who had qualified to be appointed as teachers of state-aided higher secondary schools for the same reason.

The appointment letters to selected candidates are issued by the secondary board after police verification.
This move to stall the verification process has also raised doubts over meeting the Supreme Court deadline.
The suspension of the counselling and police verification process triggered resentment among the candidates many of whom got the teaching jobs after clearing the first as well as the second exam.

“We had repeatedly appealed the previous and new government to ensure that our jobs get restored. The new government had promised us that it would give us our jobs back with dignity. This complication that has arisen due to the new reservation policy needs to be solved immediately. Many families will face severe financial crisis if our jobs are taken away,” said a candidate.

The verification process has been kept on hold as the government is examining whether the revised seven percent quota or the 17 percent reservation of the previous government is applicable for the ongoing recruitment, a board official said.

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