Rahul Gandhi writes to President Murmu, urges for safeguarding interests of deserving Bengal teachers

IANS April 8, 2025 395 views

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has written a passionate letter to President Droupadi Murmu highlighting the crisis faced by 26,000 teachers in West Bengal. The letter comes after a Supreme Court verdict that invalidated their appointments, potentially leaving thousands of educators jobless. Gandhi argues that terminating these teachers would severely impact students' education and family livelihoods. His intervention seeks to draw attention to what he perceives as an unjust situation requiring immediate presidential and governmental intervention.

"Most untainted teachers have served for nearly a decade. Terminating them will force lakhs of students into classrooms without adequate teachers." - Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi, April 8: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday and sought her intervention in West Bengal teachers' crisis, emanating from a Supreme Court verdict, which dealt a big blow to the recruitment of more than 26,000 teachers in the state.

Key Points

1

Rahul writes two-page letter to President Murmu seeking justice

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Supreme Court invalidates 26,000 teacher appointments in West Bengal

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Calls for distinction between fair and tainted recruitment processes

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Highlights potential impact on students and teachers' livelihoods

In his two-page letter to President Murmu, Rahul said that treating the teachers selected through fair means on par with tainted ones will be a serious injustice to them and therefore it was important to draw a distinction between the two - one selected via fair means and the tainted, selected through unfair means.

Drawing President's attention to the crisis arising from 26,000 job losses, he urged the President to take stock of it and take some steps for 'redressal'.

"I request you to kindly consider their request favourably and urge the government to intervene in the matter to ensure that candidates selected through fair means are allowed to continue," Cong MP wrote in the letter.

He further wrote, "Most untainted teachers have served for nearly a decade. Terminating them will force lakhs of students into classrooms without adequate teachers. Ther arbitrary termination will destroy their morale and deprive their families of what is often the sole source of income."

Notably, the Supreme Court, on April 3, upheld an earlier verdict of the Calcutta High Court, leading to invalidation of 25,752 appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff. These appointments were made by a recruitment panel set up by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) in 2016.

The court observed that the entire selection process of TMC government was "vitiated and tainted beyond resolution".

The SC verdict came as a blow to the ruling party and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee particularly in light of the fact that it comes ahead of party's poll preparations for the 2026 Assembly elections.

Reader Comments

P
Priya K.
Finally someone speaking up for these teachers! They've dedicated years to educating our children and now face uncertainty. Rahul Gandhi is right - we must distinguish between those who got jobs fairly vs unfairly. 👏
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Amit S.
While I appreciate the concern for teachers, this feels like political posturing before elections. Why didn't he raise this issue earlier when the court cases were ongoing? The timing seems convenient.
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Sunita R.
My cousin is one of these teachers - worked honestly for 8 years! Now her family is devastated. The system failed them twice: first with corruption, now with this blanket punishment. Hope President Murmu helps.
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Rajiv M.
The real victims here are the students. Schools will collapse without experienced teachers. Maybe a special review committee can verify individual cases instead of mass termination?
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Neha P.
Corruption ruins everything! 😡 But punishing honest teachers isn't the solution. The government should fast-track new hiring for verified positions while protecting those who earned their jobs fairly.

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

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Tags:
Rahul Gandhi Droupadi Murmu West Bengal Teachers Supreme Court Education Recruitment Congress Mamata Banerjee
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