Kolkata: A 34-year-old schoolteacher from Purulia, whose appointment was among those affected by the cancellation of the 2016 School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment panel, died at a hospital on Saturday after allegedly consuming an overdose of sleeping pills. Police said the cause of death would be established after the post-mortem examination.
Ipshita Das Mahapatra, a Bengali teacher of Classes IX and X at Golamara Higher Secondary School in Purulia-II block, was admitted to Purulia Government Medical College and Hospital on July 16 after falling ill at home. She died while undergoing treatment on Saturday. According to her family, Das Mahapatra qualified the 2016 SLST examination and was appointed in 2019.
After the recruitment panel was cancelled, she appeared for the fresh recruitment examination in 2025 but did not make the merit list. Her family said she had been under mental stress following the cancellation of her appointment and the uncertainty over her future. The Jogyo Shikshak Shikshika Adhikar Mancha (JSSAM), an organisation representing “untainted” teachers affected by the recruitment case, alleged in a statement that Das Mahapatra had been living with prolonged uncertainty over her job and future. It further alleged that the prolonged uncertainty had caused severe mental distress and that she consumed an excessive dose of sleeping pills on July 16. The organisation urged the authorities to take an immediate decision on the reinstatement of teachers it described as eligible and untainted, end the prolonged uncertainty surrounding their employment, provide mental health and rehabilitation support to affected teachers, and extend assistance to Das Mahapatra’s family.