Kolkata ; There is intrigue in the quiet of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee despite ED arresting her confidante and minister Partha Chatterjee over teacher recruitment scam pertaining to his relative. On his part, Partha Chatterjee is holding on to his post as Education Minister unheeding to wide outcry.
During their raid, the ED recovered roughly Rs 20 crores from the residence of Partha’s associate Arpita Mukherjee. The money, ED said, is suspected to be proceeds from SSC scam.
The SSC Scam
The West Bengal School Service Commission(SSC) issued notification for appointing teachers in govt schools through State Level Selection Test(SLST) in 2014. However after recruitments began in 2016, a batch of petitions were filed with the Calcutta High court alleging anomalies.
The petitioners contended that several aspirants who scored less marks ranked higher on the merit list. Also, some who never featured in the merit list received appointment letters.
In a second case, the Beganl govt in 2016, issued notification to SSC tor recruit 13,000 Group-D employees for state-run/aided schools. In 2019 the appointment panel expired however at least 25 persons received appointments thereafter. When the case came up for hearing, the petitioners alleged that not just 25 but over 500 people were appointed after the SSC panel expired and were currently drawing salaries from the state govt.
