After Calcutta HC order, SSC gets new chairman – Times of India

KOLKATA: The state on Tuesday appointed City College’s financial economics assistant professor Siddhartha Majumdar as the chairman of West Bengal Central School Service Commission.
He replaced Subha Sankar Sarkar. Calcutta High Court on Monday fined the chairman, West Bengal Central School Service Commission, Rs 20,000, asking him to pay it from his own pocket and asked Bengal government to examine whether he is fit to remain in that post.
The decision was made after a meeting at the education department after the HC order said, “I seriously doubt about the quality of the person who is manning the post of chairman after perusing the order and it is for the Education Department of the Government of West Bengal to see whether such a chairman can continue as the Chairman of WBCSSC or not.”
The HC had asked the education department to “give due importance to this order” asking the order copy to be sent to the chief secretary and state education secretary by January 14. Even before the deadline was over, the state school education department issued a notice on Tuesday making Majumdar a member of the WBCSSC who will also act as its chairperson with immediate effect.
Majumdar said, “I have received the intimation. I would like to first understand the issues before speaking.” Majumdar, an academic for over two decades, had helmed the College Service Commission from 2011 to 2014. Sarkar was not available for comment.
The HC’s observations came on a Commission order justifying why a TET applicant was bypassed and appointments were given to candidates below her on waiting list. HC asked the Commission to arrange for the applicant’s counselling against immediate vacancies, or in its absence, any five future vacancies closer to her home within a month.