Overview
- Demonstrations entered a second day in Kolkata’s Salt Lake, where police stopped and dispersed rallies by candidates outside the education department and near the SSC office.
- The SSC’s November 15 list names about 20,500 candidates for pre-interview verification for classes 11 and 12, with verification beginning Tuesday and scheduled to run until December 4.
- Protesters include both 2016 ‘untainted’ teachers and first-time examinees who say high written scores did not translate into interview calls because 10 marks are reserved for prior teaching experience.
- Demands raised at the rallies include scrapping the 10 experience marks, publishing OMR sheets for transparency, and expanding vacancies, even as the SSC says selection followed notified guidelines that also include 20 interview marks.
- Education Minister Bratya Basu said the rules cannot be altered because the process is under Supreme Court monitoring, while petitions challenging the experience-weighting have been filed in the Calcutta High Court and the government is weighing legal options on creating more posts.