State govt extends Utsashree Portal transfer suspension till December 31

Kolkata: The state School Education department has extended the suspension of the Utsashree Portal, the state’s online system for teacher transfers, until December 31, 2025. However, mutual transfers will continue to be allowed during this period.

The decision was announced through two notifications issued on June 30, confirming that the suspension applies to both primary and secondary school teachers.

For secondary-level teachers, the department said the suspension is needed to ensure the smooth conduct of the upcoming Second State Level Selection Test (SLST) for the recruitment of assistant teachers in classes IX-X and XI-XII, as well as the ongoing upper primary teacher recruitment process. Officials said the aim is to avoid disrupting the list of vacancies that have already been sent, or are yet to be sent for these two recruitment processes, by the commissioner of School Education to the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).

The notification stated: “Operation of online processing of applications for transfer through the Utsashree Portal is hereby temporarily suspended under special circumstances up to December 31.”

The Utsashree Portal, launched in August 2021 to streamline teacher transfers by allowing them to apply for postings closer to home, has remained non-operational since September 2022.

The suspension was initially for six months and has since been extended multiple times. The last extension was valid until June 30.

Though mutual transfers, where two teachers agree to swap postings, are still technically allowed, many teachers’ associations say the process is not working in practice.

“The mutual transfer process exists in name only. Not a single mutual transfer has been processed since the system was suspended. We demand that mutual transfers be made functional without further delay,” said Kinkar Adhikari, general secretary of Shikshanuragi Aikya Mancha.

Animesh Halder of the Secondary Teachers and Employees Association echoed similar concerns: “The portal has remained shut under the guise of ongoing recruitment. However, there has been almost no fresh upper primary recruitment in nearly a decade. Mutual transfers do not affect vacancies and should be processed immediately.”