‘Untainted’ teachers and non-teaching staff left in the lurch, both in Kolkata and Delhi

Kolkata 

After holding protests in Kolkata for months, the ‘untainted’ teachers and non-teaching staff whose jobs were axed after the April 3 Supreme Court order headed to Delhi to make their grievances heard, but they were left in the lurch in both places. This came after the last date to fill up the form for the fresh recruitment process by West Bengal School Service Commission came to an end on July 21. 

A group of representatives went to Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan and staged protests between July 23-25, to make their voices heard in the national capital. 150 members of the ‘untainted’ teachers and 15 ‘untainted’ non-teaching staff participated in the protests. They met with Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Sarad Pawar, they also filed deputations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday (July 24, 2025). 

“We were not part of the corruption, we rightfully got jobs in 2016, why do we have to do the process again? Many of the teachers also could not apply due to the new exam rules,” Shubhojit Das of ‘Joggya Sikkhak Sikkhika Adhikar Mancha’ (Deserving Teachers’ Rights Forum) said. Mr Das also said that they have filed over 190 review petitions at the Supreme Court to reconsider their April 3 order, which cancelled the jobs of all candidates in the 2016 panel and restore the jobs of the ‘untainted’ candidates with dignity. 

Teachers had appealed at both Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court against the new recruitment rules of the SSC where the eligibility criteria of the 2025 exams are different from 2016 making the process harder for older candidates. The appeals were rejected on both accounts. Around 13,000 of the 15,403 ‘untainted’ teachers have filed out the fresh recruitment form. 

The teacher forum held a press conference on Thursday (July 24, 2025) at the Delhi Press Club. Academic community members warned that their “retrenchment” was part of a “design to systematically destroy government schooling.” 

The teachers hold a press conference at the Delhi Press club on July 24, 2025.
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“Where will students in rural areas, in small towns, from poor and lower-middle-class backgrounds go?” questioned Mehboob Mondal, a member of JSSAM. “Many among us are first-generation teachers teaching first-generation learners. Are we not entitled to jobs that we earned through massive hard work? Why are we being made scapegoats in the power tussle between the Central and State governments?” 

Academicians present at the press conference lent strong support to the cause. Economist Atul Sood of JNU said, “The attack on government schools is part of the same policy that also imposes the rules of business owners on working people… These are anti-worker, anti-people policies.” 

Jamia Milia Islamia professor Debaditya Bhattacharya remarked, “No one in the system cares because this goes well with the National Education Policy that prescribes closing down government schools and colleges.” Similar concerns were echoed by faculty from Delhi University and Ambedkar University, who warned that government schooling was being hollowed out through structural defunding and policy neglect. 

Meanwhile, the WBSSC on Thursday (July 24, 2025) announced September 7 and 14 as the dates for fresh recruitment exams for assistant teacher posts. A total of 35,726 posts in state-aided and sponsored schools are up for grabs in the new recruitment cycle and according to SSC officials over 5 lakh candidates have applied. 

“How will we appear for exams when we have been on the roads demanding justice for so many months? They are trying all ways to make it harder for us,” Mr Das added. 

On April 17, the Supreme Court allowed ‘untainted’ candidates to continue in service until December 31, or until a fresh selection process is completed, but the same relaxation was not given to the non-teaching staff. The thousands of non-teaching staff have not received any salary since last April and on multiple occasions have said that their families are struggling to make ends meet.