West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) will on March 2 conduct the first phase of counselling for waitlisted candidates to fill vacancies that were created after the cancellation of appointment of Group D employees who allegedly got jobs in government-aided schools illegally.
The commission recently cancelled the recommendations for appointment of 1,911 Group D employees, following an order from Calcutta High Court.
A commission official said they decided to proceed with the counselling after a division bench of the high court last week decided not to stay the order of termination issued by Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay.
“In compliance with the solemn order dated February 10… SSC has been directed to recommend waitlisted candidates according to their merit, category, gender etc. in the vacancies arising out of cancellation of recommendations in regard to 3rd Regional Level Selection Test (NT) 2016 for recruitment of Gr-D staffs, it is hereby notified… that the phase- 01 counselling for the Group-D posts for Eastern Region is scheduled to be conducted on March 02, 2023,” says a notice signed by the commission chairman.
The commission had on February 13 announced a tentative list of waitlisted candidates for Group D posts to fill vacancies after the termination of the “erroneous recommendations” for the 1,911 candidates.
But as the employees moved the division bench headed by Justice Subrata Talukdar, the commission did not proceed with the counselling.
On February 16, the division bench declined to issue an interim stay on Justice Gangopadhyay’s order.
The commission while initiating the process of counselling has exercised caution.
“If any candidate, called to attend such a counselling process, is found to be related to any irregularity including manipulation of their OMRs, shall have his/her recommendation revoked and candidature cancelled without any further notice,” the commission’s notice issued on Friday says.
Justice Gangopadhyay had on February 10 ordered the commission to interview the waitlisted candidates after verifying their OMR sheets.
The candidates whose services have been terminated and those who are being called for counselling had written the regional-level selection test in 2016.
“We want transparency in recruitment. So caution is being exercised,” said a commission official.