Kolkata, Mar 13, 2023, IANS

Kolkata, March 13 (IANS) The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) on Monday published on its website a list of 3,478 candidates who reportedly have qualified for appointment as non-teaching staff in different state-run schools through manipulation of marks.

The list, uploaded on the commission's website as per the order of Calcutta High Court's Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, has clearly shown how marks as low as "0" to "1" in the optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets have increased to as high as "54" to 57" in the server.

The discrepancies in the marks in the OMR sheets and those in the commission's server was brought to limelight by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigating the multi-crore teachers and non-teaching staff recruitment scam. Now, by officially uploading that disparity on this website late Monday afternoon, the WBSSC authorities too have endorsed the CBI's findings in the matter.

The list published on the website of the commission on Monday has three columns. The first and second columns carry the names and roll numbers of the candidates concerned. The third column mentioned the published marks as shown in the commission's website and the fourth column showed the actual marks scored in the OMR sheet.

Similar discrepancies in marks in the OMR sheets and on the commission's server was also noted by the Calcutta High Court last year in case of recruitment of secondary teachers.

Till the time the report was filed, not a single Trinamool Congress leader was willing to come forward with any comment on the matter. However, the opposition leaders in the state lambasted the state government and the ruling party in the matter.

"Previously it was thought that 80 per cent of the recruitments were illegal and at least in the case of 20 per cent the eligible candidates secured jobs. But now it seems that 100 per cent of the recruitment is illegal," said CPI-M Central Committee member Sujan Chakraborty.

Senior state BJP leader Rahul Sinha said that this is an organised crime and it is not possible that it was conducted without the knowledge of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.