The gold worth crores of rupees was unearthed by ED in Bengal from a minister's close confidant, revealing how deep the rut goes
The recent incident of the unearthing of more than Rs 50 crore in cash, gold jewelry worth crores in flats belonging to a close associate of West Bengal’s former Industries Minister, Education Minister, and Secretary General of Trinamool Congress Party (TCP), Partha Chatterjee, as well as disclosure of many properties allegedly jointly owned by them or their families, have opened a Pandora box of corruption. It is not an overnight happening. During his tenure as Education Minister, recruitment scams were a regular occurrence, and the media highlighted the interviews of ordinary people who paid for jobs to local small-time politicians who were authorized to collect the booty for their masters. The public witnessed with apparent indifference the eight-year ordeal of the cheated State Level Selection Tests (SLST) candidates who protested against this grave injustice, but, nobody took notice. Where was the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamta Banerjee, who is now seen distancing herself from tainted Partha Banerjee, when all these malpractices were going on with full impunity right under her nose? This gives credence to the statement of Chatterjee that the money is not his and he will disclose the source at the right time. It is but, obviously, that this practice of monetizing posts in the education system and in other services was carried out in a big way by people who had the patronage of the big wigs and they were individual profiteers as well.
During the tenure of Chaterjee as Education Minister, the clear implication was that the system was manipulated in such a way that all school posts, of teaching and non-teaching staff, were open for sale at a price. From 2016 onwards, the appointment of teachers qualifying for the SSCs had violated the merit list, for reasons of nepotism, money or political clout. Investigation reveals that irregularities in the recruitment by SSC of group D staff in state-aided schools, after the tenure of the original panel of appointees for 13,000 posts had expired.
It was found that at least 269 primary school teachers in government-aided schools were ineligible for appointment. Considering the facts, the declaration of Additional Solicitor General Suryaprakash V Raju that they were looking for at least Rs 120 crore in the SSC recruitment scam is not out of place. However, the education scams in West Bengal are not something new. The left-party governments started the process. Although the SSC was set up way back in 1997, the prospective teachers were asked to pay a substantial amount before they could join as teachers in schools to which they have been appointed through the SSC. This was true for lower-level jobs in government and public sector industries as well. The scale of demand was not as high as it is now. The saving grace was that college and university posts or those of Vice Chancellors were not sold, though most appointments were guided by political consideration.
At present, under the TMC regime, the system has degraded to such a low level that not only the coffers of the party are filled to the brim, but, the money is siphoned off at all levels of the political hierarchy. Soon after the controversial minister assumed charge, the rot was extended to the higher education system. As per the information available, lakhs were extorted for college appointments and for vice chancellorships. Like the corrupt practices followed in the construction industry, the education sector also passed into the hands of powerful ‘syndicates’ functioning at the behest of the ruling party. Corruption seeped in even in the admission process in colleges. After taking charge of the Education Ministry, the first decision taken by Chatterjee was to do away with the centralised online undergraduate admission process paving the way of the selling of seats in colleges which was decided by politically affiliated students’ and teachers’ union's functionaries earning lot of money while the concerned authorities were looking the other way. Imagine the loss of society and the institutions where incompetent teachers are appointed for a period of 30-35 years and an entire generation suffers. Such cases are common in India. Hardly a day passes when we do not hear about the incidents of “leaking” of examination papers and forging of mark sheets in one state or the other and the practice continues unabated.
No wonder, the report of Transparency International places India at 85 out of 180 countries in terms of the Global Corruption Perception Index (GCPI). The greed of a few people who hold power in connivance of their stooges often highjack the system to further their petty interests and that is the reason why we lose our talent to the developed countries. If we want to emerge as a developed country, this trend needs to be reversed. Corruption, nepotism, and favouritism are the biggest curse that is a hindrance to the development of any society. We should come together to stop such malpractices. Public opinion need to be built to oppose such incidents. The guilty should be identified and punished so that nobody can dare to repeat the mistakes. The law enforcement agencies should be given free hand to deal with the situation so that justice is done.
(The writer is a senior journalist and Chairman, Panwar Group of Institutions, Solan, Himachal Pradesh. The views expressed are personal.)
