Ranchi: Vikas Linda made a 12-hour bus journey from Ranchi on 29 August to reach Sahibganj and appear in a physical test. The 22-year-old had planned to return after securing the promise of a government job. “I am going to finish that race. I will try my best, maa; things will get better at home,” he said to his mother before leaving.
Two days later, Vikas came back dead.
Vikas Linda is one among the 12 candidates who died during the physical test conducted by the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC). Nearly a hundred others were hospitalised. The 583 posts advertised for excise constables have seen 1,27,572 candidates appear so far, underlining the extent of unemployment in one of India’s poorest states. The recruitment drive and the resulting deaths are fast becoming a political issue as Jharkhand goes to polls later this year. While Chief Minister Hemant Soren has put the exam on hold and formed a committee to investigate the deaths, the state Opposition is accusing the government of conducting the exercise on short notice. It’s now demanding compensation.
Soren has also held the recruitment rules allegedly framed by the previous government responsible. The physical tests conducted were, according to some, tougher than what the armed forces have. Candidates were made to wait for hours before they were asked to run on hot and sunny days. No snacks, including fruits, were made available to the candidates. Some have even accused inadequate arrangements of medical facilities at these centres and no support from the JSSC.
“My son’s friends told me that there were no doctors available at the centre. My son was running in this heat. It must have been very painful for him, but those people (the recruitment officials) didn’t even visit him in the hospital,” said Vikas’ mother Ratni Linda, 59, sitting in a plastic chair in her house.
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A way out of poverty
Vikas’ entire family is now mourning the death. His two elder sisters and their husbands have come home to be with the family. People have gathered outside the house in Ranchi, and a tarpaulin has been put up in the courtyard to protect visitors from the rain. Only one room in the house is covered with thatched roof. The rest is made of mud.
“People have been coming here, and we are getting a lot of calls, but our child is gone. Our young child is gone,” said an inconsolable Bela Kachchhap, Vikas’ sister-in-law.
The recruitment exercise was conducted at seven centres across five districts of Jharkhand: Giridih, Palamu, CTC Mosabani, Sahibganj, JAPTC (Padma, Hazaribagh) and at two in Ranchi. The first death was reported from Palamu District on 27 August, followed by four more deaths from the same centre the next day. Two candidates died in Hazaribagh, and then news of more deaths started coming in.
My son was running in this heat. It must have been very painful for him, but those people (the recruitment officials) didn’t even visit him in the hospital
– Ratni Linda, Vikas’ mother
Now, the families of the deceased are demanding compensation and government jobs for one family member each.
“Vikas Munda from JMM and Aditya Sahu from BJP gave us Rs 1 lakh in cash as assistance, and Rajesh Kachchhap from Congress came to meet us and assured us that they would help us get justice,” said Vikas’ brother-in-law Rahul Tirki.
Vikas’ family had seen this recruitment as a way out of poverty, but his death has pushed them back.
Rahul Tirki, had transferred Rs 1,000 to Vikas’ Paytm account as exam and travel expenses. Initially, Tirki had advised him not to travel so far for the exam, but Vikas was determined. He had prepared diligently—waking up at 5 am every day. He used to play football and work on the farms. He played football regularly and never consumed any kind of drugs or alcohol.
Vikas got his admit card on 14 August and the tests started on 22 August.
“The government announced this recruitment on very short notice, and the reporting time was 4 am. His turn for running came at 11 am, and there were so many people on the ground,” said Tirki, whose phone is ringing nonstop as well-wishers call him inquiring about the death.
Vikas had two elder sisters and one elder brother. His cousin sister and sister-in-law too had gone for the same examination at the same centre. Anuradha Linda, Vikas’ younger sister was scared after hearing about the deaths of some candidates and did not want to appear, but Vikas convinced her.
“My brother said that I should go. He told me to stop if I got tired but not to give up before even starting. He said we would come back together after the test, but I did not know I would have to return with him like this,” said Anuradha, bursting into tears.
From ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha to BJP and Congress, leaders of every political party have come to Vikas’ house, offering assurances to the family.
The government announced this recruitment on very short notice, and the reporting time was 4 am. His turn for running came at 11 am, and there were so many people on the ground
– Rahul Tirki, Vikas’ brother-in-law
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The 10 km run…under the sun
Twenty-five-year-old Deepak Paswan from Palamu had to wake up at 1am to appear at the centre in Palamu for the test scheduled at 5 am. Then, he spent three hours standing on the airport ground, witnessing candidates run as he waited for his turn, which came only at 10:30am. This was not his first time attempting the exam. He had written the exam in 2019, but it was later cancelled, and the pattern was changed. This time, the candidates had to clear the physical test first.
Deepak managed to run 9 km under extreme heat before he collapsed. It was 10:30 am. He was admitted to Sadar Hospital, where he struggled to breathe. His family later moved him to a private hospital. “But after two days, he died in Ranchi’s Medanta Hospital due to organ failure,” said Dheeraj Paswan.
The family is now questioning the selection rules.
“The criterion was to run 10 km in one hour. Even though BSF and CISF candidates run only 5 km, why did they make these candidates run 10 km? What was the point?” asked Dheeraj Paswan, Deepak’s older brother.
Deepak Paswan was the youngest son. His father had died two years earlier. The main source of income for his family is farming, and his elder brother works as a labourer in a private company.
Most of the candidates who died came from poor backgrounds, without enough money to reach the recruitment centres. Some candidates spent the night at the railway station, slept on the floor, and did not even have a proper diet before the running test.
The criterion was to run 10 km in one hour. Even though BSF and CISF candidates run only 5 km, why did they make these candidates run 10 km? What was the point?
– Dheeraj Paswan, Deepak’s older brother
“One person came with only Rs 250, and that too was borrowed from a relative. This is the situation in Jharkhand when it comes to government exams,” said Kamal Sahu, who went to Giridih for the same test. “There were a lot of people and not enough staff to manage things. No proper medication or food was made available.”
Both Vikas and Deepak were admitted to the nearest hospital in Sahebganj, but no one from the JSSC informed their families about their situation. No one from the Commission reached out to the families even after the deaths. Vikas’ friend who was also in Sahibganj for the exam had to search for him for two hours before discovering he had been admitted to the hospital
Family members and friends of the deceased witnessed negligence at the hospital.
“There was not a single doctor available in the hospital when we went there. Dirty utensils were kept under the beds for days, and the bedsheets were filthy. They only gave him a glucose drip. He (Vikas) woke up around 4 in the evening and ate an apple and some eggs, but late at night, he started breathing heavily, and the hospital could not even provide oxygen,” said Anuradha Linda.
Vikas’s brother-in-law rushed from Ranchi to Sahibganj but couldn’t make it in time.
“I got a call at 3 in the morning saying his condition was serious and I should come. I even took an oxygen cylinder with me, but after traveling 175 km, I found out he was gone. They even conducted the postmortem without informing us,” said Rahul Tirki.
Both Vikas and Deepak were admitted to the nearest hospital in Sahebganj, but no one from the JSSC informed their families about their situation. No one from the Commission reached out to the families even after the deaths.
The administration claims that all facilities were available at all recruitment centers. And Jharkhand Police spokesperson Amol V Homkar has claimed in an interview that adequate arrangements, including medical teams, medicines, ambulances, mobile toilets, and drinking water, were available at all centers.
But Anuradha and Dheeraj claim otherwise. No doctor was available on the spot and when a candidate felt uneasy, they were admitted to the nearby Sadar hospital, they said.
“No snacks or any fruit was given by the centre. The drinking water was 60 metres away from the running field. If someone is running in the race, why would they go that long to drink water? Even after sending my brother to the hospital, no one informed me about this. It’s like there was no responsibility of the administration,” said Dheeraj Paswan.
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Politics over the deaths
Jharkhand’s political climate has been on the boil over the last year after an ED case against CM Soren sent him behind the bars in January this year. These 12 deaths have given the state Opposition fresh ammunition to launch an attack.
“Till now, in the history of India, there have not been so many deaths in any recruitment process. This situation has arisen due to the dictatorial attitude of the JMM-Congress-RJD government. This is a genocide of Jharkhandi unemployed youth. In the last five years, the JMM-Congress-RJD government first mentally killed the youth, and now they are physically causing their deaths,” said BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Aditya Sahu has been criticising the government’s appointment policies. He is calling for a compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the families of the deceased candidates and government job provisions for their dependents.
While Soren is blaming the central government—by linking these deaths to the covid vaccine—health experts are saying there has been no long-term study in India linking the Covid vaccine to heart diseases.
Dr. Anuj Kumar, Maxillofacial Surgeon and Public Health expert, however, said that it has been already documented that the Covid disease itself can have an impact on the heart.
The drinking water was 60 metres away from the running field. If someone is running in the race, why would they go that long to drink water?
-Dheeraj Paswan, Deepak’s brother
Kumar also pointed out at the higher incident of death in the current recruitment exercise that has seen 12 deaths among the 1.27 lakh candidates who appeared in the physical test.
“Deaths have been documented earlier during marathons. Documented incident rate is 0.6 to 1.9 in one lakh. Whether this is due to the Covid vaccine or disease itself, isn’t certain. There are three main reasons why a death could occur: Cardiac arrest is the main cause. It is more likely to occur in those runners who are not accustomed to strenuous physical activities. The second reason is hyponatremia which is a type of electrolyte imbalance. Heat stroke is the third cause,” said Kumar.
While the political mudslinging on the excise recruitment deaths is expected to last till Jharkhand assembly polls, the loss of the families who now seek accountability is permanent.
Ratni Linda has not eaten for the last three days; she keeps recalling the night she found out that her son had been admitted to the hospital. Now she wants to know only one thing: who is responsible for his death?
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)