West Bengal: Nursing Candidates Protest, Allege Recruitment Scam

Kolkata: Following charges of corruption in the appointment of West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC), there are now allegations of a scam in the appointment of nursing staff. Two days in a row, on Monday and Tuesday, job seekers staged demonstrations in front of the health recruitment board adjacent to Salt Lake Swasthya Bhavan, demanding recruitment according to the merit list. They said they would intensify their stir if their demands were not met.

The protesters alleged that job seekers who passed between 2018 and 2020 have not yet been recruited, but those who passed in 2021 have been appointed. They also alleged that panel formed for recruitment included names of many persons who were not registered. Again, despite being on the merit list, many candidates were not called for counselling. It is also alleged that many persons who have overshot the require age limit or scored low marks, have got jobs.

The protesting candidates further complained that although the number of vacancies was above 6,000, only 2,000 were being filled, as also those who had passed from other states were being recruited while candidates from West Bengal remained unemployed.

On Monday, several nursing job seekers gathered in front of the health recruitment board to demand transparent recruitment. The protestors, which included nursing candidates for all posts, were dispersed by the police, but when they refused to do so, there were clashes with the police.  As a result, several protesters were injured, while some of them were arrested. The Rapid Action Force was deployed to bring the situation under control. Later, in the evening, the protest was called off for the day. 

On Tuesday, once again the nursing job seekers gathered in front of Swasthya Bhavan to protest. The police asked them to clear off and barricaded the surrounding area. When the protestors tried to break through the barricades, there was a scuffle with the police, once again leading to several protestors as well as some police personnel injured.

When asked, Nagendranath Dutta, secretary of the recruitment board, said the matter was not in their hands. “Steps will be taken as per the instructions of Swasthya Bhavan”, he said, calling upon the protesters to end their stir, who refused to comply.

One of the protesters said: “According to the Board, they are following the merit list. But we do not see any authentic merit list. We do not know who is being recruited. We have found many recruits who are not registered. There are vacancies out of which only a few are announced for being filled up. Our movement is against all this.”

Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sujan Chakraborty also questioned the recruitment process.

 “What is going on is very dangerous in West Bengal. The way nursing candidates are being treated is not right. This has been happening for two days in a row. We strongly condemn the government.”

Chakraborty said: “The demands and movement of the nursing candidates are justified. The chief minister is both the health minister and the police minister. We are in solidarity with this movement.”

 (The original article has been edited)

Courtesy: People’s Reporter