Bengal Teacher Recruitment Scam: WBSSC Updates ‘Tainted’ List But Leaves Key Questions Unanswered

The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) has once again thrust the state’s education system into turmoil. On November 28, 2025, the Commission released an updated list of 1,806 “tainted” candidates from the controversial 2016 State Level Selection Test (SLST), the recruitment exam that has dominated headlines for nearly a decade. The fresh list includes full identifiers such as names, parents’ names, subjects, roll numbers, and dates of birth—a response to the Calcutta High Court’s demand for greater transparency. Yet, despite this extensive detailing, the schools where these candidates served remain undisclosed, leaving parents, educators, and administrators with a critical gap in understanding the true impact of this scandal.

Why a New List?

This is not a fresh investigation into corrupt appointments. Rather, it is a republishing exercise aimed at satisfying judicial scrutiny. Previously, WBSSC had only released names and roll numbers—information deemed insufficient by the High Court, especially in cases where multiple candidates share similar names across districts.

An SSC official told PTI, “We had earlier uploaded the same list of tainted teachers. But this time, as directed by the High Court, we have included the additional details to ensure full transparency.” The High Court’s November 19, 2025, order was explicit: every identifier should be disclosed to prevent tainted candidates from slipping into the SLST-2025 through technical ambiguity or administrative gaps.

Interestingly, the official clarified that the listed candidates had not appeared for the September 2025 fresh recruitment exam. This reinforces the notion that the republishing effort is largely procedural—a compliance measure rather than a corrective one.

The Mystery of Missing School Names

While WBSSC has expanded the list to include personal identifiers, it has conspicuously avoided naming the schools where these teachers served. This omission raises serious questions:

• Were these teachers still actively teaching until their appointments were cancelled?
• Did they participate in board exam evaluations or internal assessments that shaped students’ results?
• Can parents determine whether their children were taught by someone whose appointment the Supreme Court later invalidated?
• Which schools operated for years with teaching panels later ruled illegal?
• Which internal assessments may need re-verification or re-evaluation?

For a system that the Supreme Court declared “tainted and vitiated beyond redemption,” withholding school-wise details appears less like a transparency measure and more like an attempt to limit accountability.

West Bengal Teacher Recruitment Scam: A Timeline of Decay

Understanding the frustration and outrage surrounding the WBSSC’s partial disclosure requires revisiting the sequence of events in this saga, arguably the largest recruitment scam in West Bengal’s educational history.

2016: The Exam That Broke the System
The SLST is designed to recruit teachers and non-teaching staff for government-aided schools. In 2016, the test proceeded as usual, with initial appointments quietly made. At first glance, nothing seemed amiss.

2017–2019: Unease Spreads
Allegations began to surface—missing OMR sheets, mismatched serial numbers, inexplicable mark inflation. What started as rumors evolved into formal complaints and petitions documenting systemic irregularities.

2020–2021: Legal Challenges Emerge
The Calcutta High Court began receiving detailed affidavits from candidates alleging bribery, manipulation, and forgery. Internal SSC lists highlighted “invalid” answer scripts and suspiciously elevated marks, signaling deep-rooted corruption within the recruitment machinery.

2022: Collapse and Arrests
The Enforcement Directorate arrested then-Education Minister Partha Chatterjee after discovering cash, gold, and property from his aide’s residence. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) launched a forensic analysis of OMR sheets. Middlemen, SSC officials, and data operators became central figures in the unfolding investigation.

2023–2024: Judicial Pressure Intensifies
The High Court repeatedly demanded clean, verified lists of candidates. Questions arose about the SSC’s approval process, the five-member oversight committee, and the alleged pricing for various posts.

April 2025: Supreme Court Intervention
The Supreme Court upheld the cancellation of 25,753 appointments, both teaching and non-teaching. Its verdict described the entire recruitment exercise as “tainted and vitiated beyond redemption.” Only candidates deemed “untainted” were allowed to continue temporarily while the fresh SLST-2025 proceeded under judicial oversight.

Mid-2025: Structural Failure Revealed
SSC identified over 5,300 appointments as tainted. The fresh SLST-2025 exam commenced under unprecedented judicial supervision.

September 2025: Fresh Recruitment Exam
Despite strict oversight, reports emerged suggesting that some tainted candidates may have infiltrated the new shortlists. Multiple petitions and emergency court filings followed.

November 2025: High Court Orders Full Identification
The Calcutta High Court mandated that WBSSC release a comprehensive list with personal identifiers, including parentage, date of birth, and subjects taught. WBSSC complied, releasing 1,806 names—but the schools where these candidates served remain a secret, leaving the accountability loop incomplete.

Beyond Corruption: A Structural Crisis

The ramifications of this scandal extend far beyond individual misconduct. The issue is not simply that 1,806—or possibly more—candidates manipulated the system. The problem lies in the design and structure of the recruitment process itself.

A system capable of allowing 25,753 appointments to be annulled in one sweep is structurally flawed. Corruption thrived because safeguards were absent, oversight mechanisms failed, and opacity was normalized. Releasing columns in a spreadsheet may satisfy judicial requirements, but it does little to restore public trust.

Transparency is not merely about documenting names, roll numbers, and parentage. It is about revealing the real-world consequences of malpractice. Until WBSSC publishes school-wise lists, enabling districts to verify appointments and parents to know who taught their children, the crisis will remain unresolved. Bengal’s classrooms will continue operating under a system where court orders dictate accountability, but actual transparency and responsibility remain absent.

The Road Ahead

The republished list is a partial victory for judicial oversight but a stark reminder of the work that remains. Parents, educators, and administrators need access to complete information to assess the real impact on students and institutional integrity. The state’s education system, already weakened by years of mismanagement, cannot afford another layer of uncertainty.

Until WBSSC discloses which schools employed tainted teachers, and until internal evaluations and administrative appointments are re-examined, the Bengal teacher recruitment saga will remain a story paused—not resolved. This is more than a legal or bureaucratic issue; it is a generational challenge for education in the state, one that will shape trust in public institutions for years to come.