Latest news with #WestBengalLivelihoodandSpecialSecurityInterimScheme
Hans India
a day ago
- Politics
- Hans India
WBSSC job case: Calcutta HC reserves verdict on petition challenging Bengal govt stipend for non-teaching staff
Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday concluded the hearing on a petition challenging the West Bengal government notification for a monthly stipend to be paid to non-teaching staff, under Group-C and Group-D categories, who lost their jobs in state-run schools in the state following a Supreme Court order, and reserved its verdict. The counsels for both the petitioners and the state government submitted their closing remarks before the single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha, who then reserved the judgment. The state government counsel, in his closing remarks, questioned the interest of the petitioners in blocking the stipend for the job-losing non-teaching staff. The counsel for the petitioner, in his counter-argument, claimed that since the stipend is being paid from the state government exchequer constituted by public money, anyone has the right to seek justification behind how that money is spent. During the previous hearing in the matter on June 9, Justice Sinha raised questions on the basis of the calculations on which stipend amounts for Group-C and Group-D staff were determined. At the same time, she also questioned whether there had been instances in the past of the state government paying stipends to job-losing state government employees. She also questioned what the state government would get in return from those job-losing non-teaching staff against the stipend paid to them. Last month, the West Bengal government issued a notification announcing the new scheme under the state Labour Department. Under the "West Bengal Livelihood and Special Security Interim Scheme', the job-losing Group-C staff would be entitled to a monthly stipend of Rs 25,000, while those in the Group D category would be entitled to Rs 20,000 monthly. Announcing the launch of the scheme, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the scheme was planned under the state Labour Department because of the tendencies of some people and vested interests to file public interest litigations at the Calcutta High Court against any decision of the state government. However, with three successive petitions being filed at the Calcutta High Court, the state government's desire to avoid a legal battle over the scheme was not fulfilled. On April 3, the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Court order that annulled 25,753 school appointments made through the WBSSC, observing that the panel had to be scrapped entirely due to the authorities' failure to distinguish between "tainted" and "untainted" candidates. The state government and the WBSSC have since filed review petitions in the Supreme Court seeking reconsideration of the order.
Hans India
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
WBSSC jobs matter: PIL in Calcutta HC challenges Bengal govt's order on stipend for non-teaching staff
Kolkata: A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in Calcutta High Court, challenging the notification issued by the West Bengal government earlier this month on the launch of a new scheme under which the non-teaching staff in state-run schools in the state under Group-C and Group-D categories, losing jobs following a recent order of the Supreme Court, can be provided with a monthly stipend from the state exchequer. In the PIL, the petitioner has challenged the notification, claiming that spending public exchequer for staff losing jobs following a Supreme Court order was illegal. As per the notification issued earlier this month, under the proposed scheme under the state labour department christened 'West Bengal Livelihood and Special Security Interim Scheme', the job-losing Group-C staff would be entitled to a monthly stipend of Rs 25,000, while those in the Group D category would be entitled to Rs 20,000 monthly. Those covered under the scheme will be entitled to receive the monthly stipends with effect from April 1 this year and this payment will continue until any solution as regards the legal hassles regarding their loss of jobs is achieved. The PIL has been admitted by the Calcutta High Court's division bench of Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Smita Das and the matter is expected to come up for hearing soon. The matter will come up for hearing after the forthcoming summer vacation recess of the Calcutta High Court. While announcing the launch of the scheme earlier this month, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had explained that the scheme was planned under the state labour department because of the tendencies of some people and vested interests to file public interest litigations at the Calcutta High Court against any decision of the state government. However, with the PIL being filed at the Calcutta High Court, the state government's desire to avoid a legal battle over the scheme was not fulfilled. Earlier this month, a similar case challenging the scheme was filed at the single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha, which was also admitted. On April 3, the Supreme Court upheld a previous order of the Calcutta High Court that annulled 25,753 school appointments made through the WBSSC. The apex court observed that the panel had to be scrapped entirely due to the authorities' failure to distinguish between "tainted" and "untainted" candidates. The state government and the WBSSC have since filed review petitions in the Supreme Court seeking reconsideration of the order.
Hans India
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
WBSSC recruitment case: Mamata announces scheme for payment to non-teaching staff who lost jobs
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced a new scheme under which non-teaching staff in state-run schools under Group-C and Group-D categories lost jobs following a recent order of the Supreme Court, can be provided with a monthly stipend from the state exchequer. The clearance for 'West Bengal Livelihood and Special Security Interim Scheme' was cleared at a meeting of the state cabinet on Wednesday. Under the scheme, the job-losing Group-C staff would be entitled to a monthly stipend of Rs 25,000, while those in the Group D category would be entitled to Rs 20,000 monthly. Announcing the new scheme on Wednesday afternoon, the Chief Minister also made it clear that the stipend is given under this newly promulgated scheme to avoid any legal complications with making the payment from the state exchequer. 'There are people who tend to file public interest litigation against the state government on any issue. So the new scheme has been formulated, and it will be under the state labour department,' the Chief Minister said. She also said that job-losing non-teaching staff will get the stipend with effect from April 1, 2025. 'This stipend will continue until any solution as regards to the legal hassles regarding their loss of jobs is achieved,' Mamata Banerjee said. On April 3 this year, the Supreme Court upheld a previous order by the Calcutta High Court to cancel 25,753 school jobs in West Bengal. The apex court also accepted the observation of the Calcutta High Court that the entire panel of 25,753 candidates had to be cancelled because of the failure of the state government and the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) to segregate the 'untainted" candidates from the "tainted" ones. The state government and WBSSC have already filed review petitions at the apex court on this issue.
