Why is Bengal school scam controversial?

West Bengal School Recruitment Scandal

• Protests erupted on April 21 after the State government refused to release the list of ‘tainted’ and ‘untainted’ candidates in the 2016 recruitment process.

• The government sent the list to district inspectors of schools, but protesters plan to return to their schools.

• Non-teaching staff of State-run schools held a meeting with the State government, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee promising to hand out ₹25,000 per month for Group C staff and ₹20,000 per month for Group D staff.

• The school recruitment scam arose after the arrest of former State School Education Minister Partha Chatterjee in July 2022.

• A Supreme Court order on April 3 upheld a Calcutta High Court decision cancelling en bloc appointments of 25,752 teaching and non-teaching staff in State-run schools.

• The Supreme Court granted some relief to the West Bengal government by allowing the services of ‘untainted’ teachers to be retained until a fresh recruitment process is completed by the end of 2025.

• Pressure mounted on the State government and the WBSSC to release the list of ‘tainted’ and ‘untainted’ candidates.

• Protesting teachers point out that out of 17,206 teachers recruited during 2016, 15,403 were ‘untainted’ and eligible to continue teaching till the end of 2025.