KOLKATA: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday appealed to the Calcutta high court which has so far cancelled appointments of over 4,800 undeserving candidates in the alleged teachers recruitment scam not to terminate services of people as they have families to look after. This is not politics. You may not like me, my party or my government If I have done any wrong and you slap me, I won t mind, Banerjee said while addressing the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Sri Aurobindo at a city court campus. Banerjee said corrective measures should be taken if mistakes were committed in the recruitment process, as she urged the high court to rethink its decisions to terminate the services while citing two people who allegedly died by suicide after losing jobs. I will urge you the high court to rethink. Even yesterday, two people died by suicide in Jalpaiguri. If someone else did something wrong, why will these people suffer If someone loses their job suddenly, how will they look after their family Give that person a chance, she said.
Banerjee said a re examination can also be considered for such people. If needed, allow them to take another test. We will prepare another setup as per the court s order, she added. The high court has so far cancelled the appointments of 4,853 undeserving candidates who got jobs of teachers and non teaching staff in various state run schools between 2014 and 2021 using fraudulent means. The Central Bureau of Investigation CBI , probing into the recruitment scam on the Calcutta high court s orders, had earlier told the court that more than 8000 candidates got jobs using fraudulent means.