WBSSC case: Results of written examination for fresh recruitment of higher secondary teachers today

Kolkata, Nov 7 (IANS) The results of the written examination for fresh recruitment of higher secondary teachers in state-run schools in West Bengal will be declared on Friday.

The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) conducted the examination on September 14 to fill vacancies created after the Supreme Court cancelled 25,753 school jobs.

The total number of vacancies for teaching staff in the higher secondary section in state-run schools in West Bengal stands at 12,514.

On September 14, a total of 2,46,653 candidates appeared for the written examination, including the "untainted" teachers who also lost their jobs following the Supreme Court's order earlier this year.

Of the 2,46,653 candidates who appeared for the written examination, 3,120 were differently-abled candidates.

"A list of the successful candidates in the written examination will be uploaded on the website of the commission later in the day," confirmed an official of WBSSC.

On April 3 this year, a division bench of the Supreme Court cancelled all 25,753 school jobs in the entire WBSSC panel for 2016. The 25,753 school jobs cancelled included both teaching and non-teaching staff.

The entire panel was cancelled because, despite repeated insistence, first by the Calcutta High Court and then by the Apex Court, neither WBSSC nor the West Bengal government presented two lists segregating the "untainted" candidates from the "tainted", who got jobs by paying money.

In April, the division bench of the Apex Court also barred the identified "tainted" candidates, both in teaching and non-teaching categories, from participating in the fresh recruitment process.

The "untainted" candidates accused the state government of deliberately not publishing the segregated lists to protect the interests of the "tainted" ones, considering that ruling Trinamool Congress leaders were allegedly the main beneficiaries in the cash-for-school job case.

Already, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED), which are conducting parallel probes in the multi-crore cash-for-school job case, have identified former West Bengal Education Minister and Trinamool Congress secretary general, Partha Chatterjee, as the mastermind in the alleged scam.

--IANS

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