Legacy derailed
With the West Bengal Transport Minister, Snehasish Chakraborty, announcing, in end-September, the virtual closure of trams, Kolkata’s heritage transport system is now facing an existential crisis.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the multi-crore West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam on Wednesday submitted its progress reports in the matter to the Calcutta High Court.
In the report submitted to the single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, the central agency pointed out in detail how the marks of the candidates appearing for recruitment exams were manipulated in the commission’s server to accommodate ineligible candidates, depriving the eligible ones.
In four separate progress reports for entrance exams for higher secondary teachers, secondary teachers, Group C staff and Group D staff, the CBI detailed as to how lower marks ranging from “zero to five” were changed to higher marks ranging from “50 to 53” in the commission’s server.
Advertisement
The CBI sleuths also maintained how some candidates, who even submitted blank answer-sheets or with answers to only a couple of questions, were granted higher marks of above 50 with the clear intention of accommodating ineligible candidates against some consideration.
The CBI reports said that the marks of 907 candidates for higher secondary teachers’ posts were manipulated, while the figures for secondary teachers stood at 952.
The numbers on the same count in case of Group C and Group D staff were much higher, at 3,481 and 2,823, respectively, as per the CBI reports.
The central agency has also submitted scanned copies of all the marksheets concerned to the court as supporting documents.
The content of the progress reports left Justice Gangopadhyay fuming, as he gave an ultimatum to the candidates appointed illegally to either resign voluntarily and be ready to face severe consequences besides being terminated from service.
“If these ineligible candidates resign voluntarily, the court will not prescribe any punishment for them. But if they do not resign voluntarily, besides termination of their service, I will also pass an order so that they are not able to apply for any kind of government service in the future,” Gangopadhyay observed.
Advertisement
