A bizarre administrative blunder has come to light in Purulia district regarding the posting of primary teachers. In a shocking move, the District Primary School Council (DPSC) appointed a Bengali-medium teacher to the Bhandarpuara BMC Urdu Primary School, which has been defunct for over two and a half years. As soon as the error was realized, the teacher was transferred to another school within 24 hours, sparking a political row.

Founded in 1948, this Urdu medium school in Momendi village has been locked since the retirement of its sole teacher in June 2023. While the local minority community has been demanding the reopening of the school, the recent recruitment of 221 new teachers failed to address the issue correctly. The appointment of a Bengali-speaking teacher to an Urdu-medium institution has raised questions about the DPSC’s database and its seriousness toward education.

The opposition, including the BJP and ABPTA, has slammed the TMC government, calling the incident a “farce in the name of minority welfare.” Even local TMC panchayat member Shamim Ansari expressed disappointment, stating that education in the area has been neglected. DPSC Chairman Rajib Lochan Soren defended the situation by claiming there are no students in the school, but he remained silent on why the “wrong” posting was made in the first place. Currently, over 300 schools in Purulia are reportedly struggling with just a single teacher, highlighting a deeper crisis in the primary education system.