Thousands of candidates from the long-pending 68,500 assistant teacher recruitment in Uttar Pradesh staged a determined protest in Lucknow today, laying siege to the residence of Basic Education Minister Sandeep Singh. For nearly an hour the aspirants raised slogans demanding immediate appointments and the proper implementation of reservation norms. Police eventually detained a number of protesters and shifted them to Eco Garden.
The recruitment was notified In 2018. What followed has been years of litigation, allegations of large-scale violation of reservation rules, and repeated street protests. Candidates from Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Class categories have consistently alleged that the actual reservation given fell far short of the mandated percentages. They claim OBC reservation was effectively reduced to around 3.86% instead of the required 27%, while SC reservation stood at roughly 16.2% instead of 21%. These shortfalls, they say, resulted in the exclusion of thousands of eligible candidates and the irregular filling of nearly 19,000 posts.
The Allahabad High Court earlier set aside parts of the selection lists and directed the preparation of a fresh list. Candidates maintain that the court’s directions have not been fully complied with. The matter has also reached the Supreme Court, where hearings have been repeatedly adjourned. Each delay has prolonged the uncertainty for aspirants who cleared the examination years ago and have since watched their career prospects erode.
The protest outside the minister’s residence is only the latest in a series of demonstrations. On previous occasions candidates have crawled on hot roads, gathered outside the Vidhan Sabha and held sit-ins demanding that the state government actively pursue their case and enforce the reservation provisions. Slogans on Tuesday referred directly to the alleged theft of reservation benefits and the recommendations of the state’s Backward Classes Commission.
This further highlights a deeper failure of the public recruitment system. A process that began in 2018 remains unresolved in 2026. Eligible candidates continue to spend years in legal and administrative limbo while teaching posts in government schools stay unfilled or are filled through contested lists. The repeated need for aspirants to lay siege to a minister’s residence simply to be heard underlines how little institutional responsiveness exists once a recruitment becomes entangled in litigation and political management.
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For the candidates the demand is straightforward. They want the appointments that the original recruitment promised and the reservation shares that the law requires. For the state the prolonged dispute has become another example of how large-scale government hiring in India can collapse into years of uncertainty, court battles and street protests. Until the 68,500 recruitment is finally settled in accordance with the rules and court orders, the cycle of demonstration and detention is likely to continue.
