Rampurhat: In a major embarrassment West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's niece, Brishti Mukherjee, has lost her job as a Group C staff member at Bolpur Upper Primary School, following a High Court order. Brishti, who hails from Kusumba village in Birbhum, the Chief Minister's maternal home, was appointed "illegally" as a non-teaching staff member by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).
Brishti's name featured in the 608th position in the list of candidates whose jobs were cancelled following a directive from the Calcutta High Court to cancel recommendations given to candidates appointed under fraudulent means. Brishti resigned from the post after working for only one day, citing personal reasons.
When contacted, Banerjee’s brother Nihar said that his daughter had resigned due to her physical illness and had never taken any salary. He did not clarify how Brishti got the job, saying that she had applied, so she got the job.
Banerjee's ancestral house is in block no. 1 of Chakaipur village, and her maternal house is in the adjoining Kusumba village. The Chief Minister's uncle Anil Mukherjee and his son Nihar Mukherjee live in Kusumba village.
This is the first time that a member of Banerjee's family has been named in the multi-crore SSC scam that has led to the arrests of the former education minister and several officials of the commission. The scam came to light when candidates alleged that the WBSSC had taken bribes and given jobs to undeserving candidates.
The Calcutta High Court had directed the WBSSC to cancel the recommendations of candidates appointed under fraudulent means. The commission then published a list of candidates whose jobs were cancelled, and Brishti's name featured on it. The cancellation of Brishti's job has brought Banerjee's family under scrutiny and raised questions about the alleged political influence in appointments in the state.
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The Opposition parties have criticized Banerjee for allegedly promoting her family members and close aides to top positions in the administration. The BJP has demanded a CBI investigation into the appointment of Banerjee's relatives and their alleged involvement in corruption cases.
The education system in West Bengal has been marred with controversy since the exposure of SSC scam. With two heavyweight leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress—former Cabinet Minister Partha Chatterjee and influential legislator Manik Bhattacharya—arrested by Central Agencies, the fraudulent recruitment process has raised questions regarding the credentials and credibility of teachers who have been recruited in the last 10 years.
The Central agencies investigating the case—the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED)—in their submissions and reports before courts have indicated that the recruitment scam may well amount to hundreds of crores, as around 8,000 candidates appear to have been illegally recruited across categories.
