New Delhi:
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has sought President Droupadi Murmu’s intervention as thousands of teachers in West Bengal risk losing their livelihoods after the Supreme Court found irregularities in their appointment process.
In a letter to the President, Mr Gandhi said such a mass termination would leave lakhs of students without enough teachers and destroy the teachers’ morale to serve. His letter followed a representation from the Shishak Shishika Adhikar Mancha, a platform of the “untainted” teachers impacted by the court’s decision.
The Supreme Court had last week upheld a Calcutta High Court order cancelling the appointment of over 25,000 teaching and non-teaching staff under the West Bengal School Service Commission after gross irregularities emerged in their selection process.
The judgments found some of the teachers were “untainted” while some got selected through “unfair means”. But the blanket sacking order applied to all the teachers – both tainted and untainted, said Mr Gandhi.
“Any crime committed during recruitment should be condemned, and the perpetrators must be brought to justice. However, treating teachers selected through fair means on par with tainted teachers is a serious injustice,” his letter read.
I have written to the Honourable President of India, Smt. Droupadi Murmu ji, seeking her kind intervention in the matter of thousands of qualified school teachers in West Bengal who have lost their jobs following the judiciary’s cancellation of the teacher recruitment process.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 8, 2025
Mr Gandhi said most of them – who were selected through fair means – have served for nearly a decade and their termination would impact the students.
“Terminating them will force lakhs of students into classrooms without adequate teachers. Their arbitrary termination will destroy their morale and motivation to serve and deprive their families of what is often the sole source of income,” he added.
Pointing out to the President that she was a teacher herself, Mr Gandhi urged her to consider the teachers’ requests and ask the central government to ensure that the teachers selected through fair means can continue with their jobs.
At least 23 lakh candidates appeared for the teachers’ selection test for 24,640 vacant posts in 2016. But 25,753 appointment letters were issued, sparking allegations of supernumerary posts being created by the state government.
The Supreme Court ruled last week that the selection processes were “vitiated by manipulation and fraud” but said that those not specifically found to be tainted won’t have to refund the salaries they have received over the years.
An infuriated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee vowed to protect the teachers from losing their jobs and said the court must clarify who is deserving and who isn’t.
