The BJP MLA from Kurseong B.P. Bajgain has directly written to the CBI, seeking an inquiry into teachers’ appointments by the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) at a time the central agency is probing similar cases in the rest of Bengal under the directive of Calcutta High Court.

Bajgain has demanded that the appointments of 121 primary, 59 upper primary and 313 secondary and higher secondary teachers be investigated immediately.

“I had mailed my complaint with various documents to support my claims to the CBI on May 22 but on June 17, I personally went to the CBI office (in Calcutta) and submitted my letter along with other relevant documents,” said Bajgain.

The letters were submitted to the CBI joint director in Calcutta. Education matters are looked after by the GTA for the area under its ambit.

While teachers’ recruitments are done through various examinations like the School Service Commission (SSC) in the rest of Bengal, the SSC is not applicable for the GTA area as of now.

The GTA can recruit voluntary teachers. Voluntary teachers are those who have opted to teach in the schools “voluntarily” in the absence of regular teachers.

The recruitments that Bajgain is speaking of are of those “voluntary” teachers whose jobs were made permanent by the GTA largely when Binay Tamang was heading the GTA as a nominated chairperson of the GTA board of administrators from 2017 to 2019.

Tamang, who was in a faction of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, joined Trinamul a few months ago. He is contesting in the upcoming GTA elections of June 26 on a Trinamul ticket.

“Evidently, these appointments were made by misusing monetary and political leverages violating the government norms,” Bajgain has written in his letter.

The Kurseong MLA further alleged that there were neither official circulars and notifications nor examination and interviews for these appointments.

“Many illegal appointees fulfil neither the minimum qualification nor criteria for the same post laid down as per government norms,” said Bajgain.

The MLA also alleged that while the appointment of assistant teacher for primary schools was made by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, the West Bengal School Education department (secondary branch) had issued a letter to Tamang, the then GTA chairman, for “illegal regularisation of 59 volunteers of upper primary schools and 313 voluntary teachers of secondary/higher secondary schools.”

Calcutta High Court recently directed that a special investigation team (SIT) of the CBI, which is probing alleged illegal appointment of teachers in the Bengal government-sponsored and aided primary schools, will also look into cases of irregularities in recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in secondary schools.