Inspired by court order, CBI starts cracking on teachers in Bengal cash-for-job scam

Kolkata, Aug 10 (IANS) Inspired by a recent order of the special court of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which sent four primary teachers from West Bengal's Murshidabad district to judicial custody, the CBI has started a major crackdown against such errant teachers for adopting unethical measures to get jobs.

Within the last two and half days the central agency has summoned as many as 37 primary teachers employed in different state- run schools in two districts of West Bengal who reportedly got jobs after paying cash.

After grilling seven primary teachers from Bankura district consecutively on Monday and Tuesday, the central agency sleuths have now summoned 30 teachers from Cooch Behar district for questioning in this connection.

All of them, agency sources said, had been asked to be present at the CBI's Nizam Palace office in central Kolkata on Thursday with all relevant documents like their educational qualification certificates, identity and address proofs, admit cards of the entrance examination for teachers’ recruitment examinations and copies of their appointment letters.

All the 30 primary teachers from Cooch Behar appeared for the teachers’ eligibility test (TET) in 2014. After getting the appointments they got postings in school in their native districts.

Agency sources said that till now they had been acting mainly against the “demand” side of corruption in this cash for school job case targeting the beneficiaries and recipients of money for jobs. Now, said agency insiders, it is time to address the “supply” side of corruption, in this case targeting those who paid money for getting the school jobs.

“There is a high probability that questioning and strong action against those on the ‘supply’ side of corruption will lead to more influential people who are on the ‘demand’ side of the corruption,” a CBI insider said.

In fact, while remanding the four primary teachers from Murshidabad to judicial custody early this week the special PMLA court judge Arpan Chattopadhay observed that these teachers getting jobs by paying money are the roots of all such corruption.