An Albatross Around Mamata's Neck

The West Bengal school recruitment scam has erupted at a time when the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its leader Mamata Banerjee is facing a series of scandalous allegations and investigations.

Her party and the government have both been receiving flak for alleged wrongdoings in the Saradha Ponzi scheme, Narada bribery sting, cattle smuggling, coal scam, and other frauds.

On the other side are allegations of “syndicate raj”, “cut money”, administrative failures as in pursuing the RG Kar College and Hospital rape and murder case, etc. Lately, the school staff appointment scam is one of the largest employment fraud cases to hit the state’s education system.

 In the 2016 recruitment drive by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), over 25,000 appointments – comprising both teaching and non‑teaching positions – were later found to be marred by irregularities.

Allegations ranged from manipulation of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets and favouritism to outright bribery, which culminated in the Calcutta High Court declaring these appointments null and void – a decision the Supreme Court upheld.

OMR sheets are digitally scanned to tabulate the scores, and mirror copies are then stored on servers. The process of selection, intended to recruit candidates based on merit, instead allegedly witnessed numerous anomalies. Reports have highlighted that many candidates, despite having never even filled up the answer-sheets for the exam, were listed as appointed. The reports pointed at discrepancies in record‑keeping, even alleging that some “tainted” candidates – who have apparently not even written the examinations or some who had scored low marks – had been appointed as teaching and non-teaching staff for state sponsored and aided schools.

The connections to higher-ups jarred the state government in July 2022 when the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested state cabinet minister Partha Chatterjee for reported involvement in the scam. When arrested, Chatterjee was state cabinet minister in-charge of state commerce and industries, shifted from the education department portfolio soon after the 2021 assembly elections.

Incidentally, over Rs. 21 crores in cash had been recovered and 20 mobile phones seized from the house of Arpita Mukherjee. She was said to be an associate of the accused minister.  The currency was suspected to be the proceeds of unaccounted cash in the school staff recruitment process.

Three months later, the probe agency arrested TMC MLA Manik Bhattacharya, who was earlier the chairman of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, in the same case.

Late last month, the ED provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs. 56.50 crores in this connection, which was held in the name of the companies owned by Prasanna Kumar Roy and his associates. The agency had earlier attached properties worth Rs. 163.66 crores in this case.

Roy was named as the main middleman involved in the collection of money and details from candidates, and Chandan Mondal as his main agent. Both are presently in judicial custody.

As the legal battle unfolded, the Supreme Court provided a degree of relief when on April 3, 2025 it upheld the cancellation of the 25,753 appointments, but allowed a temporary remedy for the “untainted” candidates, i.e., those who had qualified for appointment legally.

Specifically, assistant teachers for classes 9 to 12 were permitted to continue teaching until a completely fresh and cleaner recruitment process is completed. This new process comes with clear deadlines: the state must publish the recruitment advertisement by May 31, 2025, and the entire selection process is required to be finalized by December 31, 2025.

The fallout from the scam has been significant and multifaceted. Protests have erupted across the state, with hundreds of non‑teaching staff taking to the streets, demanding reinstatement and state intervention following their unjust dismissal.

More so, while the temporary relief for “untainted” teachers helped stave off an immediate disruption in academics, Group C and D non‑teaching staff did not get that benefit.

In response, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced financial assistance measures – offering stipends of Rs 25,000 for Group C employees and Rs 20,000 for Group D employees – and has indicated that a review petition will be filed to address these concerns.

This move, however, has not been without controversy, as opposition voices question both its legal basis and its adequacy in rectifying systemic failures. Opposition parties in West Bengal said that the Chief Minister’s decision of financial assistance was legally not tenable.

Even as the issue poses an ominous threat to secondary school education infrastructure in West Bengal, where thousands of students’ future stand to be jeopardised, politicians have taken it up with an eye on assembly elections to be held next year.

Meanwhile, a stung WBSSC is now said to be overhauling its recruitment system. Key reforms under consideration include the publication of both provisional and final answer keys, providing candidates with copies of their OMR answer sheets, and upgrading the commission’s digital infrastructure for record‑keeping and transparency.

 These steps are aimed at re‑establishing public trust and ensuring the selection processes are robust enough to withstand legal scrutiny.

In essence, the West Bengal school recruitment scam has not only disrupted the careers and financial stability of thousands of educators and staff but has also exposed serious flaws in public sector recruitment. Ongoing investigations, legal reviews, and administrative reforms are expected to shape the future of how public appointments are made and how accountability is maintained across the state’s education system.

But Mamata Banerjee is certainly in the midst of a chaos as the government she heads, and the party she leads stand facing several allegations and investigations.

According to several political observers the ripples may affect the mandate when West Bengal assembly elections are held next year. As the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee faces allegations of being responsible for the snowballing incidents of administrative lapses, including scams such as the one in the school recruitment process and the break down in law-and-order such as the rape and murder of an intern in one of Kolkata’s top hospitals and as the chairperson of TMC she has to deal with a major feud within, where top leaders were involved in a scandalous public spat.

In both cases, there is an opinion that the official reaction has too frequently been too late and too little.  Such – and other – incidents have raised the question, if lately, she is trying to don the velvet glove or softening the iron hand she once yielded? And if so, is it a conscious effort, or is the grip unintentionally loosening?

Mamata is known for her grit, resilience, and impulse. She rode to power in the state on a wave of allegations against the Left Front government over three decades of corruption, political abuse, and administrative ineptitude. Unfortunately, the opposition today charges her on similar grounds.