Kolkata: On Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced ₹10 lakh compensation for the families of three victims of the Murshidabad violence during protests against the Waqf Act.
“A total of three persons from two families have been killed in the violence. Their families will be provided with a compensation of Rs 10 lakh,” the Chief Minister said on Wednesday afternoon while addressing a meeting with the religious leaders of the Muslim community in the state. The meeting was convened to prepare the blueprint on how to oppose the Waqf (Amendment) Act.
She also declared that the state government would offer houses under its scheme to those whose homes were destroyed in the violence. “I heard that besides houses, some shops were also vandalised. Their owners will also be provided with compensation. The Chief Secretary, Manoj Pant, will review the financial loss because of such vandalism. The compensation will be provided based on that,” the Chief Minister said.
During her address, she highlighted the Supreme Court's recent decision to uphold the Calcutta High Court's order, which invalidated the appointments of 25,753 teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal state-run schools. The apex court agreed with the High Court's reasoning that the failure of the state government and WBSSC to distinguish between “genuine” and “tainted” candidates necessitated the cancellation of the entire panel.
“The joint conspiracy by the BJP and CPI(M) on one hand and a somewhat one-sided approach of the court had resulted in such a huge job loss,” the Chief Minister said. WBSSC had already approached the apex court seeking a modification to the order.
In its petition, the WBBSE argued that candidates identified as "genuine" should be allowed to continue their jobs until the fresh recruitment process, as directed by the court, is completed. However, confusion surrounds this plea, as the apex court recently upheld the Calcutta High Court's earlier ruling to cancel all 25,753 appointments due to the state government's and commission's inability to distinguish between "genuine" and "tainted" candidates.
(inputs from IANS)