Nepotism slur on Trinamul - Left alleges bias in primary teachers' recruitment

TT, Jalpaiguri, Feb. 16: District SFI and DYFI leaders of Jalpaiguri today alleged nepotism in recruitment of primary school teachers in the district and wielded a list with names of 13 candidates who are family members or relatives of Trinamul leaders, including the brother of Dhattrimohan Roy, the chairman of the District Primary School Council (DPSC) of Jalpaiguri.

This afternoon, the SFI and DYFI workers held a rally from the district CPM office. They walked to the DPSC office and started a demonstration.

"Those involved in the recruitment process are biased. We have a list of names of candidates who were appointed as primary school teachers. They are either family members or relatives of prominent Trinamul leaders. This is nothing but nepotism. Among them is the brother of the DPSC chairman and son of a vice-president of district Trinamul. Such appointments have proved that there has been gross violation of government rules in the process," Pradip Dey, the Jalpaiguri district DYFI secretary, said.

During the demonstration, they also demanded that the DPSC come up with a complete list of candidates who had been recruited to the posts of primary teachers.

In Jalpaiguri district, 1,390 candidates would be provided with jobs in primary schools during the ongoing recruitment process, sources said.

"On one hand, the list of vacancies was not published, while on the other hand, the list of successful candidates with the marks they have secured in the exams has also been kept secret. The entire process is doubtful. We have some more names of such candidates who are related to Trinamul leaders. We will shortly publish it," the DYFI leader said.

Trinamul leaders denied the allegations.

"My son has got the job for his merit. There has been no bias in the process," Dulal Debnath, a vice-president of district Trinamul, said.

The DPSC chairman echoed him. "Neutrality has been maintained in the entire process. We did not see the political affiliation of a candidate but the selection has been made only on the basis of merit," Roy said.

"Even then, if they raise such allegation, they should prove it," he added.

The demonstration, observers said, is just a role reversal.

In 2009 and 2010, when the Left was in power, Congress and Trinamul leaders had resorted to similar demonstrations, alleging nepotism in the recruitment of teachers.