On a hot Thursday, a group of teaching and non-teaching staff members sat in front of the School Service Commission office in Kolkata’s Salt Lake, before they joined a mega rally at Sealdah. They had been in front of the office since Wednesday night, with their OMR sheets in hand, hopeful that the government might “understand their plight”.

Having lost their jobs after the Supreme Court annulled the appointments of over 25,000 West Bengal school staffers, they will rally till the Rani Rashmoni Road in Esplanade. The demand is for separate lists of “genuine” and “tainted” candidates of the 2016 SSC examination.

This comes a day after police lathi-charged teaching and non-teaching staffers outside the office of the district inspector of schools in the Kasba area, after the groups clashed. Some staff members alleged that the police kicked them.

Pritam Pramanik, a teacher at Rai Diggi school, told The Indian Express: “We demand mirror copies of the lists, and that the list of genuine candidates be certified and published. We are also protesting against yesterday’s incident at the DI office. And why should the tainted get salaries? We will not give voluntary service.

Outside the SSC office, Krishna Mondol told media persons: “No one can ever say that I have given a single penny ever in my life but today, I have lost my job because of some tainted candidates. Where do I stand?”

Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma Wednesday said in a press conference that police are investigating the lathi-charge incident and will take action against anyone found responsible. He said: “Our officer was also injured… But I must say, lathi-charge or kicking the teachers is not desirable.”