After SC axe on over 24k school jobs, Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee launches biggest recruitment drive with 44,203 posts
Times of India | 28 May 2025
Mamata Banerjee KOLKATA: CM Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday rolled out the roadmap for filling up the 24,203 school positions left empty after Calcutta high court’s and Supreme Court’s SSC rulings and also announced the creation of 20,000 extra jobs in schools.The process will start on May 30 (a day before Supreme Court’s May 31 deadline for the state) with a recruitment advertisement and will end with counselling (which will start on Nov 20). This is the Mamata Banerjee administration’s biggest school rec-ruitment drive till date.“Besides the 24,203 vacant posts, additional vacancies have been created to recruit 11,517 teachers for classes 9 and 10, 6,912 vacant posts have been created for teachers for classes 11 and 12 and 1,571 vacancies have been created for group-C and group-D posts. The total vacancies are 44,203,” Banerjee said.“There are many cases where age limit will be an issue,” the CM said, factoring in the nine-year lag for the 2016 School Service Commission panel.“Age relaxation will be offered so that everyone can appear for the test. We will also give an advantage to those with work experience,” the CM said, which may work to the advantage of the teachers who lost their jobs following court rulings.The CM’s announcement also kept in mind those asked by SC to return their salaries and face immediate job loss: “A separate notification will made in the first week of June for those group-C and group-D staffers who have lost jobs or been asked to return money so that they can opt to join three-four other departments. There will be a separate notification for this.”The state did not want to fall foul of SC’s May 31 deadline despite having filed a review petition against the order, Banerjee emphasised. “We did not act till now because we thought the review petition might lead to a favourable outcome. But we need to meet the May 31 deadline. Both processes (the new recruitment drive and the challenge to SC order) will continue. Later, if the review petition yields results, we will accept that. Both options are open. We are doing this to ensure that there is no non-compliance of SC directives,” Banerjee explained.The CM, directly appealing to the protesting SSC teachers, said: “Take the exam. Continue going to your school. You will receive your salary till the year-end.”Protect your right to return with dignity. Opportunities will come. Make the most of them. Some 26,000 teachers will have problems if I do not comply with the court's order. You have to wait for the review. Saying you will not take the exam will not work; you will not have a job. This is not our directive, it is the SC order. This was not the administration’s intention. I urge everyone to utilise both options.”“We will register your review petiton again after the SC’s summer break. We have kept time for this. Our lawyers will fight to the best of their ability. The verdict is not in my hands; it is in the court’s hand. We will present it humanely so that jobs are not cancelled,” she added.“I will try my best. Why are you afraid? Those who are over 40 will be given an age-limit exemption. We must inform the court that we have notified the media before issuing the notification. We will inform you first and then proceed. We have mentioned it in advance so that everyone knows. We were here, we are here and we will remain here.,” the CM said.Banerjee also took a jibe at the opposition. “We did not take your jobs. Those who took away your jobs are now trying to be your friends. Some 10,000 teachers’ jobs were cancelled in Tripura and they did not get their jobs back despite promises. Some 69,000 teachers lost their jobs in Uttar Pradesh. Panels have been cancelled in other states as well. So many have died in the Vyapam scam and there has been no justice,” she reminded the protesting teachers.