Didi: Ready to go to jail to ensure eligible teachers don’t lose jobs

KOLKATA: Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that she was willing to risk jail to throw a lifeline to all “eligible” teaching and non-teaching employees of state-run schools whose jobs were on the line after Supreme Court’s verdict last week on the SSC recruitment scam.
She pledged to regularise these jobs within two months, assuring the affected employees at a meeting that she had a “Plan A” and “Plan B” ready, just in case.
“Let SC clarify and give us the list of eligible and ineligible candidates. No one has the right to dismantle the education system. Who’ll run these schools? My request is, do not take away jobs if you can’t provide them. The education dept will do what is necessary,” she said.
Can arrange for jobs in other depts: Mamata
I know I can be jailed for saying this, but I don’t care. Standing with people in distress is my prime concern,” she said , addressing a 7,000-strong gathering here, and advising those affected by the SC verdict to “voluntarily” continue working in their respective schools till they received termination notices. The CM said the Trinamool govt would ensure no “eligible” teacher or non-teaching staffer was affected by a “service break”.
“We will take whatever alternative action is necessary even if the verdict does not go in our favour. The process will be completed within two months; your service will not be interrupted and you will receive additional concessions,” Mamata told them. “We can arrange for jobs in other departments,” she said without elaborating on the proposal. The CM said the School Service Commission would first seek a clarification from SC before filing a review petition for “a modification of the verdict”.
“We need to know what the court’s explanation is before we conduct a fresh recruitment exam. There is no need for secrecy. We will act in accordance with law. We are bound by the SC ruling and are taking proactive steps to ensure that the situation is handled with utmost care and fairness…I have studied law and whatever I am saying is within the ambit of law.” The Bengal govt is in talks with a battery of senior SC advocates – Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Kapil Sibal, Rakesh Dwivedi, Kalyan Banerjee and Prashant Bhushan – to safeguard the rights of “eligible” teachers, the CM said.
A liaison committee, including representatives of the affected school staff, will coordinate with the legal team. State education minister Bratya Basu met some school staffers later to set up the liaison committee.
Mamata’s speech was disrupted several times by members of the audience. She immediately sought to placate them. “Let us first resolve the issue of ‘eligible’ teachers. Then I will review the evidence against those labelled ‘ineligible’. Don’t fight among yourselves till then; have faith in me,” she said.
The CM blamed CPM and BJP for the plight of those facing joblessness for no fault of theirs. “Why did Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya (lawyer and CPM MP) file a case? Answers must be given. CPM must respond to this,” she said.
Mamata also referred to the Vyapam scam in BJP-governed Madhya Pradesh and the dismissal of around 10,000 teachers in Tripura during CPM’s stint in govt there. “Not a single teacher has been reinstated despite BJP’s election manifesto promise to give back their jobs,” she said.