The ‘untainted’ teachers who lost their jobs in the West Bengal school recruitment scam resumed their protest in Kolkata on Wednesday (August 12), after the counselling process for their reappointment was adjourned indefinitely following a fresh recruitment process ordered by the Supreme Court.
“Some of us here have proved our merit twice. We kept faith in the system even though it failed us the first time. We passed the exam again after nine years, yet the counselling process has stopped. We are headed towards death now,” a protesting teacher said.
The ‘untainted’ teachers had reappeared for the recruitment process after their appointments under the 2016 panel were scrapped by the Supreme Court over irregularities in the recruitment process.
Most of the 15,403 ‘untainted’ teachers had made it to the final merit list of the 2025 recruitment process after clearing the examination and were awaiting counselling to finalise their appointments. The latest development has left them in limbo.
In a notification issued on August 11, the West Bengal Central School Service Commission stated that the counselling process for candidates empanelled under the 2nd State Level Selection Test (Assistant Teachers), 2025, for Classes XI-XII, scheduled to begin on August 14, had been “adjourned until further notice”.
Some candidates who had made it to the merit list had already appeared for counselling, while others were awaiting their turn. The suspension of the process has triggered protests among the teachers.
Meanwhile, the reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidates has been reduced from 17% to 7% by the new government, even though the examination was held in September 2025, under the previous reservation rules.
“This has added an unnecessary level of complication to the recruitment process. What is the need for this new rule in the middle of the hiring process? When Suvendu Adhikari was not in power, they had promised that the ‘untainted’ teachers and staff members would get their jobs back. We want him to keep his promise,” Mehboob Mondal, a leader of the Joggya Sikkhak Sikkhika Adhikar Mancha (Deserving Teachers’ Rights Forum), said.
In 2025, the ‘untainted’ teachers had held months-long protests in Kolkata, demanding that their jobs be restored with dignity. Several protesters were also subjected to police action during the demonstrations.
The teachers had repeatedly appealed to the Calcutta High Court and the Supreme Court for restoration of their jobs, arguing that no investigation had found evidence of corruption against them. The courts, however, did not restore their appointments and directed the State to conduct a fresh recruitment process, requiring the ‘untainted’ candidates to appear for the examination again.
Published – August 13, 2026 12:48 am IST
