SSC protesters stage dharna at Karunamoyee, choke traffic in Salt Lake

Traffic in Salt Lake came to a standstill on Friday as hundreds of job-terminated teachers staged a dharna near SSC Bhawan at Karunamoyee More, one of the busiest intersections in the area. The protest caused severe traffic congestion, adding to the day’s mounting tension as a key meeting unfolded at Bikash Bhavan.

A 12-member delegation representing the unemployed candidates entered a closed-door meeting with West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu on the fifth floor of Bikash Bhavan. Alongside the Minister, SSC Chairman Siddhartha Majumdar, the President of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, and officials from the State Law Department participated in the discussions.

The protestors are among those who lost jobs due to irregularities in the School Service Commission’s recruitment process. Their demands center around transparency and accountability in the selection procedure. They are urging the state to release a clear categorical list of eligible and ineligible candidates and also seeking access to mirror images of their OMR answer sheets.

The three-hour-long meeting, though intense, ended on a note of cautious optimism. According to protestor representatives, SSC officials assured them that preparations are underway to publish the eligibility list by Monday, pending legal consultation. However, it was clarified that mirror images of the OMR sheets do not exist, and hence cannot be provided.

Despite these developments, the protestors said their movement will continue until all their demands are met. “We are not fully satisfied, but this is a step forward,” one of the delegates told the media.