Kolkata, April 14 -- The West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) has submitted a list of 'tainted' and 'untainted' candidates to the state Education department on Sunday, April 13, officials confirmed. The list, which includes both teaching and non-teaching staff recruited through the 2016 State Level Selection Test (SLST), is currently being cross-verified.

The move comes after the Supreme Court recently invalidated the appointments of over 25,000 candidates, citing irregularities in the recruitment process. Many of the affected individuals, who claim they were selected on merit, have been protesting since the verdict was announced. On Monday morning, around 65 disqualified teachers began a 30-hour bus journey to Delhi from the Dharmatala Y-Channel area. They plan to hold a three-hour sit-in demonstration at Jantar Mantar on 16 April to voice their concerns. The group is also carrying 10,000 leaflets describing their situation, which they intend to distribute in different states during the journey.

On April 11, representatives of the affected teachers and staff met Education minister Bratya Basu and other officials. During the meeting, they requested the immediate release of the list of 'tainted' and 'untainted' candidates. Basu assured them that the list would be published by April 21, subject to legal clearance.

"There is no objection from our side or from the WBSSC to publishing the list online, provided legal clearance is obtained," the minister had said. "We hope to resolve the matter within one and a half to two weeks."

Officials said the list was originally compiled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), handed over to the WBSSC, and later submitted to the Supreme Court. The list categorises 'tainted' candidates as those with discrepancies in their OMR sheets or those who allegedly secured jobs by jumping ranks through fraudulent means. It also includes details of 'untainted' candidates, who qualified purely on merit.

Among those heading to Delhi is Shilpa Basu, who expressed disappointment over the court's decision. "I went to school on the day the verdict came out, hoping that such a decision would not affect so many people. But now I have to leave my child behind and go to Delhi to seek justice," she said.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.