WBSSC scam: Mamata announces aid for jobless Group C and D staff

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced payment of monthly allowances on a temporary basis to Group C and Group D employees whose appointments were terminated by the Supreme Court in the wake of the cash-for-jobs scam in state-run schools.

Banerjee announced Rs 25,000 and Rs 20,000 to the jobless Group C and Group D employees, respectively, out of a newly launched West Bengal Livelihood and Social Security Scheme under the state labour department. The scheme, which was approved by the state cabinet, has come into effect from 1 April 2025, the CM said.

"The families who have lost their jobs are in great difficulty. The matter is currently sub-judice. We will file a review petition before the Supreme Court on its previous verdict and await its order, with which we will surely abide. But until that order is received, the state government has decided to offer this relief to the suffering families," Banerjee told reporters after the cabinet meeting at the state secretariat, Nabanna.

The apex court, in its 3 April order, axed the jobs of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff in Bengal following the conclusion of the hearing in the job scam case in secondary and higher secondary schools, where gross irregularities were unearthed in appointments made during the 2016 West Bengal State School Service Commission (WBSSC) selection process.

On 17 April, the court modified its judgment in response to a petition from the state secondary education board in which the WBSSC identified 15,304 teachers as "not specifically tainted" during the appointment process.

While the top court allowed the continuation of service of those teachers identified by the SSC until 31 December, it granted no such reprieve to non-teaching employees under the Group C and D categories.

The state's financial assistance to the affected employees would only continue until the government receives further orders from the court in the wake of fresh petitions, Banerjee reiterated.

Besides the secondary education board, the SSC too has moved a clarification petition before the Supreme Court on its order to scrap the entire 2016 SSC appointment panel, officials said.