Opposition parties in West Bengal said chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s announcement on Saturday about financial assistance for Group C and D non-teaching staff of state-run and state-aided secondary-higher secondary schools, whose appointments were invalidated by the Supreme Court, was legally not tenable.

While informing that the state would move a special review petition in the top court for the teachers and Group C and D staff, Banerjee also informed that Group C employees would receive Rs 25,000 and Group D employees Rs 30,000, pending the outcome of the review petition.

The CM also said, “If the Supreme Court rejects the review plea, my government would explore alternative measures to support the affected people.”

Stating that the CM cannot make such an announcement since the matter is sub-judice, BJP Rajya Sabha MP and party spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said, “What she says out of turn about financial help to the jobless non-teaching staff has no legal sanction, and the SC may take exception to such statements when the Hon’ble division bench has already passed some judgment on the issue.”

“We also wish the untainted teaching/non-teaching employees are not affected. But the steps taken by the Mamata Banerjee regime, one after another in recent times, only led to the present situation. We wish every step and announcement be made in accordance with law,” Bhattacharya added.

CPI(M) Central Committee member Sujan Chakraborty said the way Banerjee made the announcements over the speaker phone of the mobile of the chief secretary “smacks of minimum regard for democratic principles and law.”

“She declared the amount to be given to the Group C and Group D employees making a phone call. But she is not allocating the amount from her own coffer. She is spending the money from the state exchequer. While we also don’t wish the untainted non-teaching staff of state schools suffer financially, they were the victims of a vitiated recruitment process in the SSC 2016 test. Any decision of financial assistance without legal nod has possibilities to invite contempt of court charge,” Chakraborty said.

Addressing the non-teaching employees’ concerns, Banerjee had said, “Till there is a decision on the review petition, we will provide this support. See if they agree to it.”

The CM added, “I am not in a position to comment on ‘tainted’ and ‘untainted’ teachers, as I am yet to receive any official list.”

“If the court rejects our plea, then we will think about an alternative. For now, since you are not receiving any salary, we can support you through our social security schemes,” she added.

Around 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff of state-aided schools lost their jobs after the Supreme Court, on April 3, scrapped the entire 2016 recruitment panel due to large-scale irregularities.

The apex court on April 17 allowed the services of untainted teachers to continue till December 31, but the relief was not extended to Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ non-teaching staff, as the SC contended it was mainly concerned about academic activities in schools not facing disruption due to the absence of a large number of teaching staff.

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