Calcutta High Court halts TMC govt relief for sacked school staff
Court restrained the govt from providing monetary relief to the non-teaching staff, who lost their jobs following an SC judgement that held the selection process "tainted"
The Calcutta High Court on Friday (June 20) restrained the West Bengal government from implementing a scheme till September 26 to provide monetary support to non-teaching staff who lost their jobs following a Supreme Court judgement that held the selection process "tainted".
The court had on June 9 reserved judgement on the petitions, which opposed the payment of Rs 25,000 each to Group C and Rs 20,000 each to Group D employees, who lost their jobs due to the apex court order, by the state.
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Relief scheme suspended
In an interim order, Justice Amrita Sinha restrained the state government from implementing the scheme for providing monetary relief to the non-teaching staff till September 26 or until further order, whichever is earlier.
She also instructed the state government to file an affidavit in opposition to the petitioners' contentions within four weeks, with the petitioners required to reply within two weeks thereafter.
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'Tainted' recruitment process
The West Bengal government had introduced the scheme on "humanitarian grounds" to provide temporary "livelihood support and social security" to distressed families of dismissed Group C and D non-teaching staff. These employees had been recruited through the 2016 selection process conducted by the West Bengal School Service Commission.
The Supreme Court, in a recent judgement, found the recruitment process "tainted" and ordered the termination of nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff in government-sponsored and -aided schools.
(With agency inputs)