West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that her government is consulting legal experts to explore appointing 1,806 “tainted” teachers from the 2016 School Service Commission (SSC) exam to non-teaching Group C and D posts, addressing the fallout from a Supreme Court ruling. Speaking at a Teachers’ Day event at the state-run Dhana Dhanya auditorium in Kolkata, Banerjee emphasized a humane approach, stating, “We look at things not through a political prism, but from a human perspective.”

In April 2025, the Supreme Court ordered the termination of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff in state-run and state-aided schools, declaring the 2016 recruitment process “vitiated and tainted.” A subsequent modification allowed “untainted” teachers to continue working until December 31, 2025. Banerjee revealed that the recruitment of these untainted candidates, particularly those with 10-12 years of experience, has begun and is expected to conclude within two to three months. She noted that 56,000 teaching vacancies remain, with advertisements issued for 35,726 posts and 21,000 still pending due to legal challenges.

For the tainted candidates, Banerjee is seeking legal pathways to reassign them to non-teaching roles, stating that the court has permitted such reassignments for Group C and D positions. She has tasked the chief secretary with addressing this legally, while criticizing “some people” for stalling progress through litigation, though she refrained from blaming the judiciary directly.

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Banerjee also highlighted her government’s educational achievements, noting the establishment of 47 universities since taking power, up from 12 under the previous regime, with five more pending gubernatorial approval. She detailed initiatives like the Medhashree scheme, providing a 17 percent scholarship quota for OBC students without affecting the general quota, benefiting 36.55 lakh students under the Vivekananda Merit-cum-Means Scholarship, and 4.56 lakh minority students receiving ₹9,747 crore in scholarships. Additionally, ₹316 crore in education loans have supported 40,000 students, and the state has achieved a zero dropout rate at the school level and 3 percent at higher education.

Taking a swipe at the central government, Banerjee explained holding the Teachers’ Day event a day early due to a state holiday on September 5 for Prophet Mohammed’s birth anniversary, contrasting it with the Centre’s stance. She also emphasized Bengal’s cultural legacy, citing reformers like Iswarchandra Vidyasagar and luminaries like Rabindranath Tagore, urging students to preserve their Bengali identity while embracing other languages and cautioning against believing social media misinformation.

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