The Supreme Court judgment caused despair in many but also instilled hope in some.
The candidates who petitioned Calcutta High Court, alleging illegalities in the recruitment process, stood vindicated on Thursday.
The court’s directive to the state government to hold a fresh selection process within three months has made them hopeful of a fresh start.
Metro spoke to some of them:
Purabi Karmakar, 36
Purabi Karmakar, who lives in Nalhati in Birbhum, had cleared the written exam and the interview. Her name was on the waiting list.
The Supreme Court order has made her hopeful. “We are indebted to Abhijit Gangopadhyay (the former judge of Calcutta High Court) and Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya (the senior counsel who represented the petitioners),” was her first reaction. The Supreme Court directive to hold a fresh exam has made her hopeful.
“I have to prepare all over again. But something is better than nothing,” she said.
Karmakar was hoping for more. “The tainted candidates were identified. Their jobs should have been scrapped. The deserving candidates, like myself, should have been directly recruited in those vacant slots,” said Purabi, who lives with her husband and six-year-old daughter.
“The past few years have been very tough. But we fought bravely,” she said.
Sandipan Mukherjee, 31
Sandipan Mukherjee, who lives in Burdwan, had cleared the 2016 exam in the Group-C (clerical) category. His name was 14th on the waiting list.
“After the high court dubbed many appointments illegal, my name rose to the third spot in the waiting category,” said Mukherjee.
“Our jobs were stolen. The CBI proved that. The courts have validated that. Now, the fresh test gives us a second chance,” said Mukherjee,
who has a degree in journalism and mass communication from Rabindra Bharati
University.
“Cracking the same test again after almost a decade will be challenging. But I am up for the challenge,” he said.
The past few years have been “very tough”, he said.
Mukherjee worked as a freelance journalist for a few months.
“But the struggle that we have had to endure for the past few years took a toll on my work. I could not continue it,” he said. Mukherjee lives with his parents. His father is a retired railway employee. His pension saw the family through.
“We were stretched. But I did not give up on hope,” he said.