Bengal asks districts to identify tainted school recruits for salary recovery

The West Bengal Education Department has directed district administrations across the state to prepare lists of “identified tainted” candidates who allegedly secured teaching and non-teaching jobs in government-run schools through illegal means.

According to sources in the department, communications have been sent to all District Magistrates asking them to compile details of candidates found to have obtained appointments in exchange for money. Officials have also been instructed to calculate the salaries paid to such candidates during their service period, along with the interest accrued on those amounts.

The move follows orders passed earlier by the Calcutta High Court and later upheld by the Supreme Court of India regarding irregularities in recruitment conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission.

The “identified tainted” candidates reportedly include individuals who obtained appointments despite submitting blank or incomplete answer sheets, as well as those who benefited from rank manipulation or appointments made outside approved recruitment panels.

An official from the education department said both the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court had ordered the cancellation of nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching appointments made through the 2016 WBSSC recruitment panel after serious irregularities were uncovered.

“Both courts directed that salaries paid to identified tainted candidates should be recovered with interest. The process had remained pending for a long time, but the department has now initiated recovery proceedings following instructions from senior levels of the administration,” the official said.

The communications sent to district authorities reportedly reference the Supreme Court’s 3 April 2025 order directing ineligible candidates who secured employment through bribery to return the salaries received during their tenure.

Officials said the state government has now decided to expedite implementation of the court’s directions after earlier delays in the recovery process.

The recruitment controversy has remained politically sensitive in West Bengal, particularly after earlier disclosures suggested that some of the ineligible candidates were relatives or close associates of leaders linked to the All India Trinamool Congress.

Following the cancellation of the recruitment panel, around 25,735 employees lost their jobs, including 18,418 teaching staff and several thousand non-teaching employees.

With IANS inputs