IPA Newspack
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets

IPA /

IPA Special

IPA Special

Scandal In School Teachers Recruitment Has No Impact On Bengal TMC Leaders

By Ashis Biswas

Knowingly or otherwise, Justice Abhijit Ganguly, Calcutta High Court, while expressing his fears over the poor performance of the CBI as an autonomous investigating agency, has strongly revived the dreaded question about the rule of law in West Bengal: has the state ceased to be governable?

Despite the loudest efforts made through the largely manageable mainstream media by pro-Trinamool Congress (TMC) apologists to defend their 11 year long (mis?)rule, anxieties about the future of the state have deepened among the people in recent weeks. A strong indication was available a few days ago, in the first editorial of Kolkata’s highest circulated newspaper: it noted that Bengal, in terms of sheer misgovernance/official mismanagement and lack of public accountability at any level, is currently in a ‘free fall’ into utter chaos and lawlessness! Ruling party leaders not otherwise renowned their tolerance of public criticism, remained silent on this occasion.

Justice Ganguly could not conceal his anguish about the present situation in Bengal. It has been possible for the ruling party to reject the applications of hundreds of meritorious graduates/aspirants for the jobs of teachers in schools year after year. Instead, ill-educated (even barely literate people at times!) people with poor academic record were appointed. These favoured people could secure their official jobs with all facilities and allowances only because they/their relatives/political sponsors could pay TMC leaders at various levels bribes within the Rs 10,00,000 – 25,00,000 range , it has turned out.

Thousands of such beneficiaries — who could/should be apprehended on charges of misrepresentation of facts and criminally offering bribes to various people including ruling party leaders and education department officials — had until the court ordered their instant dismissal, have already drawn hundreds of crores of rupees by way of salaries and allowances over the last 3/4 years. No one knows what kind of ‘teaching’ or other service they provided at various Government–run schools / institutions during this time!

A particularly distressing instance of the kind of education provided in some government-run schools in Bengal occurred recently: a secondary level student asked to spell ‘umbrella’ in English thought the word was spelt ‘Amrela’! Her reply, recently telecast, has gone viral.

The High court intervened in the first instance of corruption last November, as Justice Ganguly ordered the CBI to look into specific allegations. But later it was found that similar massive corruption had occurred also at the School Service Commission recruitments, the Group D employees’ appointments, the official Madrasa appointments — in fact , as CPI(M) leaders Sujan Chakravarty has alleged, at almost every level of appointments made within the Education department of West Bengal.

Since the state Government has understandably maintained a total silence over such scandalous disclosures, wild unsubstantiated reports/rumours about the extent of the corruption have been circulating. Estimates about the number of meritorious/ students/applicants cheated of at least 5/6 years of their lives, condemned to enforced joblessness, range from 30,000 to 50,000. The first reports about the rottenness in the system became public from 2013 onwards.

The role played by the state Education Ministers has been scandalous, to say the least. Most of the current allegations target the portly former Minister currently handling the Industries department, Partha Chatterjee. Repeatedly questioned by the CBI investigators, the heavyweight influential TMC leader could not recall very much about the scores of official orders/papers he had signed, along with other department officials over the years. Senior officials also hauled over the coals by the CBI also resorted to similar bouts of collective amnesia. Even those who said they were ‘acting under orders’ failed to recall who exactly had done the ordering!

There is no reason to believe that matters would now improve since Chatterjee does not handle education any more. During the tenure of the present Minister of state Paresh Adhikary, his own daughter Ankita had been appointed a teacher overruling scores of more meritorious candidates, most of whom remain jobless to the present day. The High Court has not only ordered Ankita’s instant dismissal, she would now have to return the entire salary she had fraudulently earned defrauding the public exchequer.

Adhikary’s senior colleague is Bratya Basu, by all accounts a leading figure in the cultural world of Bengal.. However, as for his political outlook/culture, the less said the better. To quote only one of his recent statements, ’It is natural that during our rule TMC people will get the jobs!’

It also needs stressing that despite their flagrant misdemeanours(Adhikary, for example or even Chatterjee), the ruling TMC government has not taken a single step against them nor against the half dozen senior officials serving at various levels in the Education department! The government has not even begun a routine inquiry, suspending them or issued any show cause notices.

Opposition leaders ranging from the CPI(M) to the BJP find nothing incongruous in such open encouragement of criminal behavior at the highest administrative levels of the TMC Government. ’One must not forget, the present Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has on record described offences like rapes and murders by TMC supporters as acts of childish naughtiness, ‘ says a BJP spokesman.

As Justice Ganguly himself conceded, if even the judiciary failed to restore minimum justice for the common people in Bengal, currently suffering grievously under the present administration on various counts, people really should start worrying. ‘I see no light at the end of the tunnel, as even the CBI has not made much progress in their investigations which I myself had ordered last November… I do not know if the deserving jobless students will ever be officially employed in Bengal,’ he said.

His comments sounded more like an epitaph on the sad fate of a formerly advanced state in India. Amen. (IPA Service)

Politics

AAP to contest all seats in MP assembly elections

February 5, 2023
Politics

New turn in UP’s OBC politics as Maurya backs caste census

February 5, 2023
Happening Now

Video shows Chinese balloon being downed by US missile

February 5, 2023
Politics

Assam CM says child marriage crackdown to continue

February 5, 2023
IPA Special

BJY Has Improved Rahul’s Image To The Congress Supporters But That Is Not Enough

February 4, 2023
IPA Special

China Reopening Changing Market Dynamics Impacting Importers

February 4, 2023
IPA Special

Union Budget 2023-24: Kerala Again Cold Shouldered

February 4, 2023
IPA Special

2023-24 Budget Keeps Key Issues Of Indian Workers Unaddressed

February 4, 2023
IPA Special

Modi Baiter Trinamool Spokesperson Saket Gokhale Is In ED Net

February 4, 2023
IPA Special

Israelis And Palestinians Do What They Do Best, But For Wrong Reasons

February 4, 2023
IPA Special

‘Let It Be Morning,’ A Stunningly Powerful Almost All-Palestinian Israeli Film

February 4, 2023
Happening Now

RBI says banking sector stable amid Adani stocks rout

February 4, 2023
Politics

Cong opposes private member’s bill against worship places law

February 4, 2023
Politics

Cong blasts ‘arm-chair liberals’ for criticising yatra

February 4, 2023
Politics

No plan for remote voting machines, clarifies govt

February 4, 2023
Politics

Chidambaram attacks govt’s anti-minority policy

February 4, 2023
IPA Special

BJP May Lose Power In Two Out Of Three North Eastern States After Assembly Polls

February 3, 2023
IPA Special

Modi 2’s Last Full Budget Ignores Indian Economy’s Basic Problem

February 3, 2023
IPA Special

Enforcement Directorate Is An Ally Of Modi Govt Against Opposition Parties

February 3, 2023
IPA Special

Deceptions In Plenty In The Union Budget 2023-24

February 3, 2023

An appeal

The legacy of IPA, founded by Nikhil Chakravartty, the doyen of journalism in India, to keep the flag of independent media flying high, is facing the threat of extinction due to the effect of the Covid pandemic. Only an emergency funding can avert such an eventuality. We appeal to all those who believe in the freedom of expression to contribute to this noble cause.
Click here to learn more

Share

Reply

  • 0
More on IPA

BJY Has Improved Rahul’s Image To The Congress Supporters But That Is Not Enough

February 4, 2023 4:27 pm | IPA Staff

By Harihar Swarup Since his 3,506-km Bharat Jodo Yatra ended on January 30 in Srinagar, it is time to assess its impact. Rahul Gandhi has...

IPA Special

China Reopening Changing Market Dynamics Impacting Importers

February 4, 2023 4:25 pm | IPA Staff

By K Raveendran With China slowly reopening after it abandoned the zero-Covid policy, global markets are bracing up for an industrial inflation, denoting higher industrial...

IPA Special

Union Budget 2023-24: Kerala Again Cold Shouldered

February 4, 2023 4:24 pm | IPA Staff

By P. Sreekumaran THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It has become a nauseatingly unredeemable tale of rejection and rebuff for Kerala. True to pattern, the State has once again...

IPA Special

2023-24 Budget Keeps Key Issues Of Indian Workers Unaddressed

February 4, 2023 4:23 pm | IPA Staff

By Dr K R Shyam Sundar The Economic Survey (ES) 2022-23 prepared the ground for the focus points in the Union Budget 2023-24 presented on...

IPA Special

BJY Has Improved Rahul’s Image To The Congress Supporters But That Is Not Enough

in IPA Special
Feb 4, 2023   ·  

China Reopening Changing Market Dynamics Impacting Importers

in IPA Special
Feb 4, 2023   ·  

Union Budget 2023-24: Kerala Again Cold Shouldered

in IPA Special
Feb 4, 2023   ·  

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Follow us on
Up Next: India Can Emerge As A Big Hub For International Arbitration
©2020 -2021 India Press Agency, All Rights Reserved
Newspack by India Press Agency
logo
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets