WB: Suvendu Adhikari condemns police crackdown on upper primary teacher candidates protesting against delay in appointment

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], September 24 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata party leader and the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, condemned the alleged police crackdown on upper primary teachers candidates who were protesting against the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) over delay in the appointment process.

In a post on X, the BJP leader said that the Upper Primary Candidates were going towards the West Bengal School Service Commission (SSC) seeking answers as to why the SSC is wasting time regarding the appointment process after Calcutta High Court directed them to complete the appointment process.

“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,” he wrote on X.

“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,” the BJP leader added.

Earlier in the day, police detained several upper primary teacher candidates protesting at Kolkata’s Salt Lake.

Meanwhile, the Kolkata High Court ordered the release of the appointment list for upper primary teachers, potentially benefiting 14,000 candidates.

The court’s decision, announced by the division bench of Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Parthasarathi Chattopadhyay, directs the School Service Commission to publish the final list within four weeks. Following the publication, counselling will be conducted.

The court’s ruling is expected to resolve a nine-year-old issue regarding teacher appointments.

According to lawyer Firdaus Shamim, the School Service Commission had previously invalidated the selection of 1,463 candidates, claiming errors in the “updated interview OMR seats.”

The court has instructed that these candidates be reinstated in the merit list and that counselling be conducted for the 14,052 candidates currently on the list. The court found the Commission’s previous merit list to be incorrect.