New Delhi: “Please don’t send food for the next one or two days.” That was the appeal made by students protesting in Ranchi over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations after supporters from across the country sent more food than they could consume. In multiple videos shared online, the students thanked people for their support and said the surplus food was being distributed to those in need so that nothing went to waste.
For the past few days, food has been arriving at the protest site through Swiggy and Zomato orders placed by people from across the country. Many of the orders are addressed simply to “any student protesting in Ranchi”. The students say they have enough food for now and have asked supporters to pause deliveries for the next one or two days while the existing supplies are used up and the surplus is distributed to those in need.
Thanking the supporters, digital creator Aayush Rana, who has more than three lakh followers on Instagram (@_uncutreality), posted a video from the protest site asking people not to send any more food.
“A student from Kerala ordered food from Biryani By Kilo. A sister from New Delhi ordered juices from Blinkit. We have received 30 to 50 packets just today. There is so much food that we are having to distribute it to people nearby and to those in need,” he says in the video, which has clocked nearly a million views and more than 1.7 lakh likes.
From Jantar Mantar to Ranchi
The response mirrors the recent Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protests at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, where food delivery apps became an informal lifeline for demonstrators. Strangers from across India, and even abroad, sent meals to protesters they had never met. A similar show of support has now emerged in Ranchi, with people using food delivery apps to back the student protest from hundreds of kilometres away.
Students have been staging an indefinite sit-in at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium in Ranchi since 29 July over alleged irregularities in the 14th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) Combined Preliminary Examination, the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) Examination and other recruitment tests.
On Sunday, hundreds of students marched to Albert Ekka Chowk, raising slogans against the JMM-led government and demanding an impartial investigation into the alleged irregularities. They have warned of intensifying the agitation, including marching to the Jharkhand Assembly, if their demands are not addressed.
Among their key demands is the cancellation of the 14th JPSC Combined Preliminary Examination held on 19 April. They are also seeking a CBI probe into recruitment examinations conducted by the JPSC and JSSC over the past seven years, action against those responsible for the alleged irregularities, reforms to the state’s recruitment process, and the introduction of a fifth “not attempted” option in OMR answer sheets.
The protesters have also demanded Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s resignation on moral grounds, saying they have lost faith in the ongoing CID investigation into the alleged irregularities.
For now, however, the students have just one request for those sending meals from across the country: please pause food deliveries for the next one or two days.
(Edited by Prashant Dixit)