Candidates of 68,500 teacher recruitment gherao SCERT office

In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, candidates of the 68,500 assistant teacher recruitment gheraoed the State Educational Research and Training Council (SCERT) office located in Nishatganj as part of their ongoing protest that has continued for 70 days. In the protest held on Wednesday, the candidates sat on the ground in the office premises, raised slogans, and demanded that the irregularities regarding reservation in the recruitment process be resolved and appointments be given immediately.

The applicants allege that there were major errors related to reservation in this recruitment process which started in the year 2018. The candidates stated that they had applied for this recruitment, but even though eight years have passed, they have not yet received jobs. During this long period, the candidates have conveyed their demands to the Chief Minister, ministers, MLAs, and the BJP state president, but no solution to this problem has been found yet.

Protesting candidate Naveen reported that on 10 September, they met Basic Education Minister Sandeep Singh and Secondary Education Minister Gulab Devi. Senior officials of both departments were also present in this meeting. Naveen claims that during this meeting, the ministers and officials acknowledged the irregularities in the recruitment. He raised the question that when the State and National Commission for Backward Classes have also admitted that there are errors in reservation, why have the candidates not been given appointments yet? The candidates say that the appointment process should be completed by following the orders of the commissions.

On the other hand, candidate Tufan Singh, who joined the protest, also alleged that there was large-scale irregularity regarding reservation in the 68,500 assistant teacher recruitment. He further stated that the State and National Commission for Backward Classes have also given directions to follow the rules in this matter. The main demand of the candidates is that the reservation discrepancies in the recruitment should be removed as per the orders of the commissions and they should be given appointments properly. The candidates expressed concern that the future of the candidates who have been waiting for jobs for eight years is in uncertainty. A warning has also been given that this protest will continue until a concrete decision is taken on their demands.

This entire dispute is linked to the 2018 recruitment process. The main protest of the candidates is that even after a long period of eight years, justice has not been given to them by the administration by correcting the reservation errors. Through the gherao of the SCERT office, the candidates have tried to draw the attention of the government and the concerned officials to this serious problem.