Bengal Minister's daughter among terminated 36,000 primary teachers

The daughter of a minister of West Bengal cabinet and a couple of ruling Trinamool Congress leaders figure in the list of 36,000 primary teachers in state-run schools whose services have been terminated as per the May 12 order of the Calcutta High Court.

Among the 36,000 teachers is the name of Sushma Chik Baraik, the daughter of Trinamool Congress MLA from MalBazar and the West Bengal minister of state for backward class development, Bulu Chik Baraik. She has been employed at the Rangamati Primary School since 2016.

The minister himself was not ready to comment on the order of the Calcutta High Court. However, he added that his daughter is quite qualified and she even cleared the written tests for West Bengal Civil Services (WBCS) examination twice. "If necessary my daughter will appear for the teachers' examination again and prove her worth," he said.

The name of Sibam Basunia, the Trinamool Congress member of Mainaguri panchayat samiti in Jalpaiguri, also figures in the list. According to him, he will take necessary steps on the basis of discussion with others whose services too have been terminated.

Another name that figures in the list is that of Gita Das Rajbangshi, a member of the Trinamool Congress-controlled Jalpaiguri Zilla Parishad. She, however, refused to comment on the matter.

On Friday, Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay while terminating the services of 36,000 of the 42,500 primary teachers recruited in 2016, Justice Gangopadhyay observed that none of these 36,000 teachers had proper training for getting recruited as primary teachers and they got recruited without appearing for the compulsory aptitude tests.

However, Justice Gangopadhyay ordered that these 36,000 primary teachers will be able to attend their respective schools for the next four months and during that period they will be entitled for the salary of para-teachers instead of that for regular teachers.

If any candidate among these 36,000 completes the requisite training in the interim period, he/she will be eligible for appearing for examinations in the next recruitment phase.