CM, Partha visit agitating SSC candidates

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday paid a visit to the candidates of the School Service Commission, who are on an indefinite hunger strike at Mayo Road and said that she wants employment of all the aspirants whose names have figured in the list of successful candidates. Around 400 aspirants have been agitating for the last 28 days, with demand for immediate filling up of vacancies.

"I am very much sympathetic to this issue. You should have faith in me. The recruitment process is on hold due to some legal complications. We will examine the issues and if necessary will bring a change in law," Banerjee said, appealing to the students to withdraw their strike. She was accompanied by state Education minister Partha Chatterjee.

She maintained that she could not make any promises to the aspirants at present with the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in place, due to the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections. She instructed Chatterjee to include five students- three male and two female, at the committee that has been constituted with the aim to come up with a solution in this regard.

"The committee will hold a meeting in the first week of July and will work towards quickly resolving this situation," Banerjee said. It may be mentioned that Banerjee visited the agitating candidates after receiving a letter from them.

It may be mentioned that Chatterjee has already formed a five-member committee, led by secretary of the School Education department Manish Jain, to take into account the demands of the agitating students and submit a report to him. Chatterjee had earlier met the candidates at his office on March 6 and after being informed of their demands, had assured them that those having the requisite qualification will get call for interview in due course.

The agitating SSC candidates who were allegedly not recruited as teachers in classes 9 to 12 despite having the requisite qualifications, had first met the minister on March 2. These are the candidates who had given the SSC exams in 2013 and 2017, had qualified in the examination and are on the waiting list for recruitment.

The agitating students said that they will announce their decision on whether to withdraw their strike, on Thursday.