Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union Education Minister, wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today to express his deep concern over the alleged irregularities in the state’s teacher recruitment process and to request that she take corrective action, reports PTI.
The letter was sent amid the backdrop of the Enforcement Directorate’s ongoing probe into the alleged multi-crore school job scam, which led to the July 23 arrest of Partha Chatterjee, a now-fired West Bengal minister.
“A large number of representations received from various teachers and teacher organisations from West Bengal regarding irregularities in the teacher recruitment in West Bengal is a matter of grave concern,” the letter read.
“The irregularities found in the teacher recruitment scam of West Bengal will certainly hamper the quality of education and demotivate the future generation,” Mr Pradhan said.
“I sincerely urge you to take necessary corrective measures to restore the confidence of the people,” he added.
The CBI is looking into any irregularities in the recruitment of teachers and staff from Groups C and D at government-sponsored and -aided schools, as directed by the Calcutta High Court.
The ED, which is investigating the scam’s money trail, claims that it recovered nearly 50 crore rupees in cash and gold from apartments connected to Arpita Mukherjee, one of Chatterjee’s close aides.
Mr. Pradhan cited a few instances of irregularities in the letter regarding the recruitment of teachers via the State Level Selection Test (SLST).
“I would like to bring your attention to certain instances. The process for the appointment of teachers through the State Level Selection Test (SLST) has been started in 2014. However, actual recruitment could take place only two years later in 2016,” the letter mentioned.
“Further, the recruitment process was compromised and several petitions against this process were filed. Another related case is the recruitment process of Group C and D staff in government-run or aided schools as notified by the state government in 2016 to the School Service Commission (SSC), is also a matter of grave concern,” it added.
Ms. Banerjee was promised by Mr. Pradhan that the central government will continue to support and give it its full attention to ensuring that all students in West Bengal have access to a high-quality education.
Partha Chatterjee lost his position in the state Cabinet after his arrest and was sacked from the Trinamool Congress party.
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The Chenab Times News Desk
