Kolkata: Hundreds of school job aspirants staged a protest on Friday outside ‘Bikash Bhavan,’ the headquarters of the West Bengal education department. They demanded swift appointments, citing delays caused by legal hurdles despite clearing the 2016 State Level Selection Test (SLST). Out of over 23 lakh candidates vying for 25,000+ posts, 25,753 received appointment letters, which were invalidated by the Calcutta High Court in April 2022.
The Supreme Court later stayed the order and said it would hear the matter.
“Most of the 25,753 candidates had qualified in the SLST 2016 exams. However, they are faced with an uncertain future due to legal issues. Days and months have passed. How long will we wait? We want the uncertainty to end and join work,” Ujjwal Samanta, one of the protesters told reporters.
A small fraction of the 25,000-odd candidates were accused of taking unfair means in the exam, but all have been facing an uncertain future, said another candidate Meenakshi Dhara.
The protestors, who marched towards Bikash Bhavan from Karunamoyee crossing in Salt Lake, were stopped by the police before the building. Six of their representatives were allowed to go inside to meet senior school education department officials.
One of the protestors also tonsured his head in public.
A senior school education department official said the case will come up again before the Supreme Court this month.
“We cannot act as the matter is sub-judice, We will go by the advice and directive of the judiciary,” the official said.
Another group of candidates held protests in Esplanade area in the heart of Kolkata, affecting vehicular traffic for some time.
