TMC government withdraws bill

For the first time since coming to power in West Bengal in 2011, the Trinamool Congress government on Thursday withdrew a bill after placing it in the state Assembly due to inconclusive discussions in the House and several anomalies in it.

The West Bengal Staff Selection Commission (Repealing) (Repealing) Bill 2019, which aims at filling vacant non-Public Service Commission posts in state government establishments, was placed in the House for discussions during the day.

"In absence of proper infrastructure and resources, it would not be possible for the government to process with the huge recruitment. Thus it is felt necessary to revive the erstwhile West Bengal Staff Selection Commission," the Bill stated.

The Commission was established under the West Bengal Staff Selection Commission Act, 2011 which was subsequently repealed by West Bengal Staff Selection Commission (Repealing) Act 2017, in order to ensure effective implementation of the provisions of the Act.

However, opposition leaders said financial implications of the bill has not been mentioned.

After the discussions remained inconclusive, it was decided that a review would be done and the bill will be placed again in the House next week, Education Minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters.

Leader of Opposition and senior Congress leader, Abdul Mannan said, "This is for the time since coming to power that the TMC government virtually accepted that they had placed a faulty bill and decided to withdraw it.

"We welcome the state government's stand. Instead of passing a faulty bill in a hurry, it is better that we pass it later after looking into all the aspects," he said.

The new bill has the word repealing twice in its name as it is being crafted out after the erstwhile West Bengal Staff Selection Commission Act, 2011 which was repealed by West Bengal Staff Selection Commission (Repealing) Act, 2017.