WBSSC to conduct fresh examinations for recruitment as per Supreme Court order.

West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) Chairman Siddhartha Majumdar have asserted that it will comply with the Supreme Court directive to conduct fresh examinations of all the candidates who took part in the 2016 job recruitment test, which has now been invalidated.

The Apex court on Thursday cancelled the appointments of 25,752 teachers and non-teaching staff in the state-run and state-aided schools recruited by the WBSSC in 2016 saying the selection process was ‘vitiated and tainted’ beyond redemption.

WBSSC Chairman Siddhartha Majumdar told reporters that the commission would seek legal advice about the eligibility of candidates who can appear for the fresh exam. As per the Supreme Court directive, a fresh selection process for filling the vacancies would be taken, and also seek a clarification on whether new candidates are also eligible to appear for the same examination, Majumdar told reporters.

In the controversial examination which was conducted in the year 2016, some 26 lakh candidates had filled the application, of them 22 lakh candidates appeared for the tests. In which around 1.41 lakh candidates were aspirants for Classes 9-10, and another 1.5 lakh candidates for classes 11-12, and the remaining were for nonteaching posts.

Majumdar said that, given the large volume of candidates involved, the completion of the selection process within three months was a tough job to accomplish. “There is no mention of a three-month deadline in the court order. This is a long process and we are unlikely to finish it within three months”, the WBSSC Chairman said. He said the SSC will start the process of fresh examination of 22 lakh candidates as soon as possible. “We will also send our recommendations to the school education Department, but cannot share any further details at this stage”, he maintained. He said they have received a letter from the state government for a “prompt recruitment process” and will explore all options, including creating additional vacant posts.

Team Maverick