‘Will do everything to restore dignity’: CM Banerjee to teachers after SC order scraps appointments

Days after the Supreme Court upheld an order terminating the appointment of about 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff by West Bengal’s School Service Commission, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said she will do everything to restore the dignity of those who lost their jobs, PTI reported.

“Please don’t consider that we have accepted it [the order],” the news agency quoted the Trinamool Congress chief as saying during a meeting in Kolkata with a section of teachers affected by the order. “We are not stone-hearted, and I can even be jailed for saying this, but I don’t care.”

Banerjee, however, said that the state government respected the Supreme Court ruling and added that the administration was taking steps to handle the situation with “utmost care and fairness”.

The chief minister added that she would stand by those who lost their jobs. “I don’t care what others think,” PTI quoted her as saying. “I will do everything to restore your dignity.”

In April 2024, the Calcutta High Court declared as null and void the 2016 State Level Selection Test for recruitment in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools, ordering the cancellation of about 25,000 appointments made through it.

On April 3, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court order.

“Regarding findings of this case, entire selection process is vitiated...

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