Kolkata, Amidst ongoing protests over the annulment of jobs of around 26,000 teachers, the West Bengal School Education Department has temporarily put on hold its earlier decision to transfer 374 teaching and non-teaching staff of state-run and state-aided schools to distant workplaces.
A senior school education department official told PTI that the ‘surplus transfer’ order — initially issued to address staff distribution imbalances across schools — has been paused.
“The transfer was aimed at solving disparities caused by disproportionate staffing in different schools in the interest of students. But the process has been put on hold for the time being,” the official said.
Though no official reason was given, the development comes days after the Supreme Court invalidated the appointments of around 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff recruited through the 2016 School Service Commission examinations.
The official added that the transfer process for 605 other staff members — from both secondary and higher secondary schools — has already been completed.
However, they have not yet been asked to report to their new postings.
Chandan Maity, president of the Advanced Society for Headmasters and Headmistresses , criticised the department’s move, saying: “Without filling up vacant posts of permanent teachers in urban and rural areas, the department made several teachers — including women — travel 100 to 300 km from their residences in an arbitrary and whimsical manner in the name of surplus transfers.”
He further added, “Despite the recent launch of a portal to facilitate teacher postings within 50 km of their residences, such transfer orders were still being issued.”
Swapan Mondal, general secretary of the Bengal Teaching-Non Teaching Committee, welcomed the decision to pause the transfers.
“Many teachers were facing severe difficulties due to the transfers to distant locations. Putting the process on hold will bring relief to those affected,” he said.
In a separate development, five teaching and non-teaching staff whose appointments were invalidated by a Calcutta High Court order in 2024 have filed a contempt notice against the Principal Secretary of the Education Department, the SSC Chairman, and the President of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education .
They alleged that many of the 26,000 invalidated staff members continue to attend work in violation of the apex court’s order.
The complainants — Babita Sarkar, Nasreen Khatun, Setabuddin, Lakshmi Tunga, and Abdul Gani Ansari — sent the notice on April 9.
On April 7, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had addressed thousands of SSC-qualified school staff whose jobs were annulled, urging them to continue attending their workplaces and offer “voluntary service” to avoid a potential “break in service” issue during future court hearings.
Echoing the CM’s sentiment, Education Minister Bratya Basu on April 11 appealed to the affected staff. “Visit the school from the next working day as wished by the CM and do not sever the emotional bond with your colleagues and students.”
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