Around a hundred WBPSC candidates got into a fight with the police when they were demonstrating over allegations of irregularities outside its office in south Kolkata on Friday, officials said.

The candidates, who said they are waiting for appointment letters for six years, tried to break into the West Bengal Public Service Commission (WBPSC) building in Mudiali area when police stopped them. Soon, a scuffle broke out and the protestors were shovelled into police vans that were on stand-by.

Around 20 protesters were held for attacking police personnel and violating official orders, a police officer said. Three-four people fell ill in the scuffle amid oppressive heat, the protesters said.

In the last six years, none of the eligible candidates got appointments despite their names figuring in the official panel, they said. Food and Supplies Minister Rathin Ghosh said the government acts on the panel sent by the WBPSC. "There is a process and we cannot act out of turn. We have full sympathy for the jobless," he said. BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar said the state government has pushed educated youths of the state into an unbearable situation.

The Mamata Banerjee government is delaying the recruitment process as it has become financially bankrupt, he claimed.