Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, denounced the alleged police action against upper primary teacher candidates protesting the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) over delays in the appointment process.
In a post on X, Adhikari stated that the protesting candidates were heading towards the SSC office to demand answers on why the Commission was delaying appointments despite a directive from the Calcutta High Court. “I strongly condemn the atrocious action of the police on the Upper Primary Candidates who were going towards the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) seeking answers, why the SSC is deliberately wasting time regarding the appointment process after Calcutta High Court directed the SSC to complete the appointment process for the candidates as Assistant Teachers in State Govt sponsored and aided Upper Primary Schools within 12 weeks,” Adhikari wrote on X.
He further expressed support for the protesters’ demands, noting, “They have been agitating for a decade. I support their valid demand for immediate counselling and completion of the recruitment process within the stipulated time period.”
Earlier in the day, police detained several upper primary teacher candidates who were demonstrating in Kolkata’s Salt Lake area.
In a related development, the Kolkata High Court directed the release of the appointment list for upper primary teachers, a decision that could benefit around 14,000 candidates. The ruling, issued by a division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Parthasarathi Chattopadhyay, instructs the SSC to publish the final list within four weeks, after which counselling will be held.
This court decision is expected to address a nine-year-old issue concerning teacher appointments. According to lawyer Firdaus Shamim, the SSC had previously invalidated the selection of 1,463 candidates due to errors in “updated interview OMR seats.” The court has now ordered these candidates to be reinstated on the merit list, alongside counselling for the 14,052 candidates currently listed. The court also ruled that the Commission’s previous merit list was incorrect.
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