KOLKATA: With the school teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal tarring the reputation of the ruling Trinamool Congress, the party scampered to make amends with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee meeting representatives of qualified candidates who were fraudulently denied jobs and assuring them of justice.
The meeting came 502 days after the candidates robbed of jobs began their sit-in demonstrations in Kolkata’s Esplanade.
Banerjee was forced to step as the party had nowhere to hide after embarrassing photos surfaced of the Rs 50 crore in currency notes and gold jewellery seized by the Enforcement Directorate from a couple of houses of arrested Trinamool heavyweight Partha Chatterjee’s associate. Chatterjee was the education minister when the fraud happened.
As many as 250 students have been holding protests at Esplanade against the scam. The protesters alleged that many who had scored fewer marks bagged appointment orders on the basis of recommendations by the School Service Commission.
“Even those who did not feature in the waiting list got teaching jobs. But those who were in the 2016 merit list are yet to get employment,” said a demonstrator.
The protesters have been staging demonstrations for over 500 days at Mayo Road in the metropolis, alleging irregularities in SSC recruitments.
Banerjee met them at his office in Camac Street in the presence of Education Minister Bratya Basu and Trinamool Congress state general secretary Kunal Ghosh.
"The meeting was held in a very cordial atmosphere. Abhishek Banerjee heard us patiently and has assured us that those who featured on the merit list of 2016 SLST would get jobs," said Shahidullah, who led the group of protesters.
The next meeting will be held on August 8 at Bikash Bhawan, the headquarters of the state's Education Department, where the SSC chairman would also be present.
Ghosh said the party is sympathetic towards the cause of the agitators.
"These interactions and meetings would continue to find a way out of this problem," he said.
Meanwhile, even as the meeting was underway, a group of Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) candidates squatted outside Banerjee's office, demanding a similar dialogue with their representatives.
"We would also want a meeting with Abhishek Banerjee. For the last four years, we have been agitating over irregularities in recruitments," one of the protesters said.
The CBI, as directed by the Calcutta High Court, is probing alleged anomalies in recruitment of Group-C and Group-D staff, as well as teachers in government-sponsored and aided schools on the recommendation of the West Bengal School Service Commission.
The Enforcement Directorate had recently arrested Partha Chatterjee, who was the education minister when the alleged irregularities took place.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on Thursday relieved Chatterjee of his duties as minister in charge of several heavyweight portfolios, including commerce and industry.
He was also suspended from the TMC and removed from all party posts.
Meanwhile, arrested Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee on Friday claimed he was a victim of a conspiracy.
The ruling Trinamool Congress, however, asserted that he alone was responsible for his fate, seemingly shrugging off responsibility for Chatterjee.
The 69-year-old leader, who was held in connection with a school recruitment scam, is presently in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate.
As he deboarded a vehicle after being taken to ESI hospital at Joka on the southern outskirts of the city for a medical check-up during the day, and was approached by reporters, Chatterjee said he was just a "victim of a conspiracy".
Later, while exiting the hospital, he said time will tell if the action taken against him by the TMC was justified.
"This decision (to suspend me) could influence an impartial probe. Only time will tell whether the decision was right or wrong," he said.
About the move to remove him from the ministry, Chatterjee, once considered a close confidante of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, said, "Her (Banerjee's) decision is right."
The TMC leadership, however, took exception to his comments and said Chatterjee was himself responsible for his fate.
"Who will conspire against him? What is he trying to imply? The money was recovered from the flat of his close aide. He himself is responsible for this situation," senior TMC leader Sougata Roy said.
TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh, who had been vociferous over the demand to sack Chatterjee, said: "After so many days, he is saying it's a conspiracy. As a citizen of this country, he can always approach the court. Let law take its own course," he said.
Chatterjee, who was the industries and parliamentary affairs minister, had held the education portfolio when the scam was allegedly pulled off.
He was relieved of his duties as minister-in-charge of various departments and suspended from the TMC on Thursday.
He was also removed from all party posts.
One of his close aides, Arpita Mukherjee, has also been arrested by the ED after crores of rupees in cash were seized from her residences in parts of the city.
Mukherjee, who was taken to the ESI hospital for check-up in a separate car, was seen breaking down on her arrival at the medical facility.
According to ED sources, the two-faced questioning upon their return from the hospital at the agency's CGO complex.
Meanwhile, opposition leaders have demanded more clarifications over Chatterjee's conspiracy allegations.
CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said Chatterjee should name the people involved in the conspiracy, if there was one.
"Bengal has earned a bad repute due to this school recruitment scam. Careers of so many people have been destroyed due to the scam," Chakraborty said.
In a similar vein, BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh said he should reveal who all were involved in the conspiracy, as he has claimed to be a victim of some devious plan.
"Chatterjee is not a common man. He was a powerful minister and a senior TMC leader. He should take names of people involved in the conspiracy," he stated.
TMC MP Shantanu Sen maintained that his party had zero tolerance for corruption.
He also asserted that the ruling camp had no connection with the woman or the cash seized from her residences.
On Thursday evening, ED officials had raided a third apartment linked to Mukherjee in the city's Chinar Park area.
As the flat was locked and the keys could not be traced, ED sleuths broke open its door in the presence of central force officers.
Earlier, a raid was carried out in Mukherjee's Belghoria area flat, where around Rs 28 crore unaccounted cash was apparently found stashed along with large quantities of gold and silver.
The central agency had also reportedly seized over Rs 21 crore in cash from another flat belonging to Mukherjee in the Tollygunge area.
The CBI, as directed by Calcutta High Court, is probing the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of Group-C and -D staff, as well as teachers in government-sponsored and -aided schools on the recommendations of the West Bengal School Service Commission.
The ED is looking into the money trail involved in the scam.
(With PTI Inputs)
Eye-popping ill-gotten wealth
Here’s a list of properties registered in the names of Partha Chatterjee, Arpita and benamis the ED is looking into
7 houses in Bolpur. A whole floor of 4,000 sq ft in Santiniketan.
4 flats in Diamond City.
2 flats in Belgharia Club Town.
1 flat in Baranagar.
2 flats in Newtown.
1 house at Sonarpur.
A Palatial house at Jangipara, Hooghly.
A school on land worth Rs 45 crore plus construction cost Rs 50 crore.
A land for a pet hospital measuring 12,240 sq ft near Bagha Jatin Railway Station, Kolkata.
25 bigha land in Baruipur.
Farmhouse in Singur, Hooghly.
Guest house at Sunderbans.
Resort near Sajnekhali bird sanctuary.
Resort in a Sunderbans island.
Farmhouse in Jhargram.
Farmhouse at Baruipur, South 24 Parganas.
10 bigha land at Bantala Leather Complex worth Rs 24 crore.
24 acres land in Jharkhand.
Dumpers running in Burdwan for sand mining.
Investment in a parlour and garment chain.
Building of an entertainment company.