West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has urged protesting teachers who lost their jobs due to a Supreme Court ruling regarding recruitment irregularities to return to work. Banerjee assured them that the government will protect their salaries and file a review petition for Group C and D staff.

Thousands of teachers continued their overnight protests outside the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) headquarters in Salt Lake. Banerjee addressed the teachers, stating that they don't need to worry about who is tainted and who is not but should focus on whether they have their jobs and are getting their salaries on time. She clarified that the list to identify the tainted and untainted teachers remains with the government and the courts.

The Chief Minister assured the teachers that their jobs are safe for now and that they will receive their salaries. She requested them to return to their schools and resume classes. Banerjee mentioned that she has addressed this issue several times and affirmed that the government is with them. A review petition for Group C and Group D staff who have lost their jobs will be filed before the Supreme Court, and she urged the teachers to keep their faith in the government until then.

Banerjee cautioned the protesting teachers against those trying to provoke them, stating that she could have solved the issue within seconds if she were in Kolkata. She urged them to let the state government handle the matter. Referring to similar developments in Uttar Pradesh and Tripura, Banerjee pointed out that people lost jobs in huge numbers in those states and never got them back, emphasizing that she does not want that to happen in West Bengal.

The protesting teachers are among nearly 26,000 teaching and non-teaching staff whose appointments were invalidated by the apex court on April 3, citing widespread irregularities in the 2016 recruitment drive. Over 2,000 protesters surrounded the WBSSC headquarters, denying entry and exit of officials, including its chairman Siddhartha Majumdar, who has been inside the building since the previous evening. The agitating teachers are demanding that the commission publish the list of candidates who were recruited based on merit and those who allegedly got appointments by paying bribes.