Bengal School Job Scandal: Recommendations via SMS and WhatsApp
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Synopsis
The CBI's investigation into the cash-for-school job scam in West Bengal reveals crucial evidence of job recommendations being communicated through SMS and WhatsApp, with significant involvement from former education minister Partha Chatterjee.
Key Takeaways
- CBI investigates cash-for-school job scandal.
- Job recommendations made via SMS and WhatsApp.
- Partha Chatterjee scrutinized recommendations personally.
- 324 candidates listed in CBI charge sheet.
- 134 candidates currently employed in state-run schools.
Kolkata, Feb 17 (NationPress) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) agents investigating the cash-for-school job scandal in West Bengal have uncovered significant evidence indicating that recommendations for job appointments were not only documented but also transmitted via WhatsApp and SMS, which were acknowledged by the relevant authorities.
According to informed sources, all these recommendations, whether written or communicated digitally, were personally reviewed and narrowed down by Partha Chatterjee, the former state education minister and ex-secretary general of the Trinamool Congress.
The comprehensive details of these recommendations have been included in the annexes accompanying the charge sheet submitted by the central agency regarding this case.
The CBI has already presented to the special court in Kolkata a list of 324 candidates who were endorsed by various powerful figures, including both former and current MLAs and MPs for recruitment.
Additionally, the CBI has detailed 134 recommended candidates who successfully obtained jobs and are presently employed in various state-run schools across the region.
Sources reveal that before finalizing the candidates, Chatterjee held closed-door meetings with select trusted officials from the state education department.
For confidentiality purposes, these meetings were conducted at his residence rather than his office. Chatterjee, who was apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in relation to the school job case in July 2022, has been identified as the principal architect of the scam in the charge sheet submitted by the ED.
Alongside him, his close associate Arpita Mukherjee and his son-in-law are among the other individuals charged as noted in the ED’s documentation. The Babli Chatterjee Memorial Trust, established in memory of Chatterjee's late wife, is also implicated in the ED charge sheet as a culpable entity. It is claimed that illicit funds were misrepresented as donations to this trust and subsequently diverted.
Chatterjee is currently receiving care at a private hospital in Kolkata due to a reported decline in his health.
Hospital authorities recently informed a special court in Kolkata that the former state education minister is nearly recovered and will be discharged shortly.
Earlier this week, BJP MP from Purulia, Jyotirmay Singh Mahato, reached out to Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, urging him to guarantee Chatterjee's safety.
He raised concerns about a potential life threat to Chatterjee while at the private hospital.
