The recruitment of 69,000 teachers in Uttar Pradesh, conducted in 2019, has remained mired in controversy. The aspirants who took the examination allege that after the results were declared in 2020, there was corruption in the allocation of seats, involving officials associated with the Basic Education Department. Since the case reached the Supreme Court in 2024, young aspirants have seen little relief despite 27 hearings so far.The Wire spoke to three such teacher aspirants from various districts of Uttar Pradesh, who highlighted their six-year-long struggle. Why did they and their fellow aspirants choose to crawl on the streets like cockroaches as a form of protest? How did they turn to crowdfunding to fight their legal battle? And now, as the case reaches a decisive stage in the Supreme Court, how has the Uttar Pradesh administration allegedly sought to keep putting pressure on them?Akanksha Kumar looks into the case.