Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Friday criticised the judgement of the Calcutta High Court which restrained the West Bengal government from implementing its Livelihood Social Security Interim Scheme, 2025, which sought to provide monetary assistance to over 26,000 terminated non-teaching staff in Group C and D categories.
The interim stay given by the bench of Justice Amrita Sinha will remain in effect until September 26, 2025, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
The scheme, notified on May 15, 2025, by the state Labour Department, proposed to pay Rs 25,000 to Group C and Rs 20,000 to Group D employees per month. It was introduced after the Supreme Court quashed the 2016 recruitment process conducted by the West Bengal Central School Service Commission, declaring it tainted. The court-ordered cancellation led to mass terminations of teaching and non-teaching staff across government-aided and sponsored schools in the state.
Petitioners in the writ petitions, who were wait-listed candidates from the same 2016 recruitment process but never appointed, challenged the validity of the scheme. They argued that the government was using public funds to compensate individuals whose appointments were found to be fraudulent. They also claimed that the scheme created an unjustified classification, offering relief to a select group of unemployed persons while ignoring others similarly placed.
Justice Amrita Sinha, who had reserved the verdict after hearings concluded on June 9, ruled that the scheme raised prima facie concerns about legality, discriminatory application, and possible violation of prior court rulings. She noted that if payments were made and the scheme was later struck down, it would be practically impossible to recover the disbursed sums.
“By the impugned Scheme the State is not making any provision for securing work. The Scheme is also not providing any public assistance to any unemployed candidate. On the contrary it appears that, the State is providing financial assistance to candidates whose job stood terminated by the order of the Court as the same was result of cheating,” the court observed.
The court also allowed the state four weeks to file its affidavit in opposition, with a further two weeks granted to the petitioners for reply.
Reacting to the court’s order, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh criticised the Opposition, alleging they were obstructing humanitarian relief. “Following the SC directive, over 26,000 people lost their jobs, bringing monstrous glee to some. It was our compassionate Chief Minister who stood by the affected,” he said.
Ghosh confirmed that the state had begun a new recruitment process in line with the court’s directions and would explore further legal options.
He said: “We will follow legal recourse but identify those who go to courts and get these inhumane orders.”