Kolkata: West Bengal govt is all set to dissolve the Madrasah Service Commission (MSC) and merge it with West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), paving the way for madrasa teacher recruitment through WBSSC.“We are abolishing MSC. It will now be merged with WBSSC,” said CM Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday night.A senior Nabanna official said the decision has been approved by the state cabinet. “We will have to introduce two separate bills in the state assembly — one for repeal of the Madrasah Service Commission Act and another for amendment in the SSC Act. Once the bills are passed in the state assembly, it will be sent to the governor for approval, and accordingly, a gazette notification will be issued,” the official added.West Bengal MSC was established on Oct 22, 2008, under the West Bengal Madrasah Service Commission Act, 2008. In 2007, 614 madrasas were accorded minority educational institution status, and the subsequent legislation provided the framework for recruitment in these madrasahs.Under the proposed system, recruitment for govt-recognised madrasas would be routed through SSC along with school teacher recruitment. For aspirants, this would mean a single recruitment framework instead of having to track separate examinations and procedures for schools and madrasas.Officials believe the unified system will further streamline the recruitment process and reduce the need to maintain separate infrastructure. However, the precise structure of the new recruitment process, including eligibility, subject-wise vacancies and examination rules, will become clear only after the necessary legal amendments are approved.“Our objective is to bring teacher recruitment across different categories of schools under one framework,” the official said.Recently, the state govt has transferred the administrative control of Aliah University from the minority affairs and madrasah education department to the higher education department. The decision aligns with a “one state, one education” policy, aiming at bringing Aliah University under the uniform framework of National Education Policy (NEP) and streamlining higher education administration across the state.A state-wide survey covering all 22 districts and Kolkata has found 2,132 madrasas operating with proper approval while 2,396 were functioning without the required govt or board authorisation. Following the verification exercise, govt ordered the closure of 252 madrasas and issued show-cause notices to around 100 others, with further action dependent on the responses submitted.
