West Bengal Job Scandal: Candidates Land Positions with Blank Exam Papers
Click to start listening
Synopsis
The CBI's investigation into the West Bengal school job scam reveals details about candidates securing jobs by submitting blank answer sheets. The report outlines manipulations in the recruitment process and identifies key figures involved in the scandal, including former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee.
Key Takeaways
- CBI investigates candidates with blank answer sheets.
- Manipulations in OMR sheets discovered.
- 752 candidates had results withheld for extortion.
- Fake websites used to deceive candidates.
- Partha Chatterjee involved in job recommendations.
Kolkata, March 5 (NationPress) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigating the multi-crore cash-for-school job scandal in West Bengal has gathered crucial information regarding several candidates who obtained school positions after submitting blank answer sheets during the recruitment examination.
The CBI also shared this information, including the names of the implicated candidates, in a recent report submitted to the Calcutta High Court concerning the issue. Reports indicate that these candidates, who received jobs after presenting blank answer sheets, participated in the exams conducted between 2016 and 2022.
These candidates were largely facilitated through manipulations made in the optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets utilized in the written examinations, many of which were destroyed to eliminate evidence without proper authorization.
The report cites a specific instance where the masterminds behind the alleged scam collected money by coercing candidates who had already paid for securing school positions.
In 2015, the results of as many as 752 such candidates were intentionally withheld on technical grounds, with the actual motive being to extort additional money from them. Subsequently, when their results were eventually released, it was found that 300 out of the 752 candidates were eligible for recruitment and received appointments in various state-run schools.
The central agency's report also details how fraudulent websites were established to gain the trust of candidates who were paying for job placements.
Recently, the CBI submitted a charge sheet in a special court in Kolkata regarding the school job scandal, specifying that the former West Bengal Education Minister and Trinamool Congress Secretary General Partha Chatterjee personally reviewed job recommendations for candidates who paid money.
The charge sheet also stated that recommendations made through WhatsApp and SMS were considered, and all such details were included in the annexures of the charge sheet submitted by the central agency.
Chatterjee, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the school job case in July 2022, has been identified as the primary figure in the scam according to the ED's charge sheet.
Alongside him, his close associate Arpita Mukherjee and his son-in-law are named among the accused in the ED's charge sheet. A trust named Babli Chatterjee Memorial Trust, after Chatterjee's late wife, is also implicated in the ED charge sheet as an accused entity. It is alleged that the illicit funds were disguised as donations to this trust and subsequently diverted.
