SSC Recruitment: Lakhs of youth preparing for government jobs appear for the Staff Selection Commission i.e. SSC examination every year. However, in the last few years, many controversies have come to the fore due to paper leaks and irregularities in the process of the SSC recruitment examination. The recruitment scam of the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in the year 2016 is quite famous. The Supreme Court canceled the appointments of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff on 3 April 2025.

This decision took away the jobs of many people, but under the new rules, a provision has been made to give a chance to the affected employees again. Due to this, the rules of SSC teacher recruitment have also been changed. Age limit relaxation has been provided to the candidates and efforts are also being made to bring transparency to the process (West Bengal Teacher Recruitment). You can understand this case of SSC education recruitment in West Bengal here.

How did the teacher recruitment scam happen?

In 2016, WBSSC conducted the State Level Selection Test (SLST) for the recruitment of assistant teachers and non-teaching staff (Groups C and D) for classes 9-12. 23 lakh candidates applied for 24,640 vacancies, but 25,753 appointments were made. This shows that there was manipulation in this recruitment process. The CBI investigation revealed that there was manipulation of OMR sheets, and changes in ranks, and appointments were made after the validity of the panel expired.

Many irregularities were caught in the CBI investigation. Many candidates had submitted blank OMR sheets, yet they got the job of a teacher. Naisa Communications was assigned the work of scanning OMR sheets. This company handed over the same work to a company called Data Scantech. It is being told that this company had manipulated the data. In 2022, the CBI recovered 3 hard disks from former Naisa employee Pankaj Bansal, in which data was found to be different.

Supreme Court gave its verdict.

On April 3, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the 2024 decision of the Kolkata High Court, in which the 2016 recruitment process was completely canceled. The court said that it was completely 'tainted' due to 'manipulation and fraud' in the process. The court mentioned many things in it-

The OMR sheets were destroyed after a year, which was according to the rules, but it was suspicious during the recruitment process.

Appointments were made even after the validity of the panel expired.

The marks of ineligible candidates were increased.

However, the court gave relief and said that the employees whose appointments were canceled would not have to return the salary, as well as, Divyang employees were allowed to retain the job on humanitarian grounds.

New rules for SSC teacher recruitment

Opportunity to appear for the exam again: Employees whose jobs were canceled can participate in the new recruitment process. The only condition is that they should not be found 'tainted'. The court had disqualified more than 6,000 candidates who were involved in OMR manipulation or change in rank. These candidates cannot appear for the exam again.

Transparency: To ensure transparency in the new recruitment, WBSSC has been directed to make the list of candidates and marks public.

Age relaxation: The age limit has been relaxed for the affected employees. This will enable them to easily appear in the new exam. This time people between 21 and 40 years will be able to apply.

CBI investigation: The court has allowed the CBI to continue the investigation of the officers involved in the irregularities, but no coercive action will be taken.

Priority for former employees: Those who had previously worked in other government departments can apply to return to their old jobs.

What are the rules of the education department in the new notification?

As per the Supreme Court's instructions, 10 marks have been fixed for teacher experience. 10 marks have also been fixed for the lecture demonstration. Now 10 marks will be given based on marks obtained in graduation or post-graduation, not secondary or higher secondary. The exam will be a of total 100 marks. Out of these 100 marks, 10 marks will be given for education qualification. 10 marks will be given for getting marks above 60%. 8 marks will be given for getting marks between 50 to 60%, and 6 marks will be given for getting marks below 50%.

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