New Delhi: Ranchi’s Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium erupted in joy late Monday night after Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced the cancellation of the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission-Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) examination and all exams conducted by private agency TDPL.
Student leader and member of the Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha party, Devendra Nath Mahato, broke his hunger strike in the presence of Jharkhand Ministers Dipika Pandey Singh and Irfan Ansari at the Sadar Hospital. Two more—Rahul Kranti and Umme Habiba—also ended their hunger strike.
An organiser told ThePrint that 30-year-old Rupesh Kumar Pal and 28-year-old Sabita Kumari from Ranchi remained on hunger strike after 15 days.
While the protestors celebrated after the announcement, candidates who had been recruited by the JSSC-CGL exam and had served in their respective posts staged a sit-in at the Project Bhawan, demanding clarity and justice over their appointments.
The government has agreed to most of the major demands by the protesting students, except the demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry.
However, the students have announced that their agitation will continue until a consensus is reached on all the demands.
“We first want to see whether the JSSC notification has actually been withdrawn. TDPL had prepared the final merit list. We also want to understand the government’s stance on the CDPO and FSO exams; that remains unclear,” student leader Piyush Kumar told the media.
“Thirdly, regarding the age cut-off, we had demanded the 2018 cut-off, but the government’s position on this is not clear. What is the government’s stance on a CBI inquiry? We have some doubts regarding the government’s position on that. So, the agitation will continue until a consensus is reached on all these matters,” Kumar added.
Kumar was referring to the JPSC Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) and Food Safety Officer (FSO) exams, along with reiterating their demand to fix an age cut-off limit at 2018 for state recruitment examinations.
In response, in a late-night statement to the media, Minister Dipika Pandey Singh said that the government has agreed to all the demands of the students.
She defended the decision not to bring in the CBI, saying that the central agency had failed to deliver results. She said that it had 17 pending cases regarding paper leaks, and since 2015, 152 instances of paper leaks and alleged irregularities across the country.
Yet neither the Central government nor central agencies have achieved any concrete results in these matters. Therefore, she said that the government had set a timeline for the CID inquiry: the charge sheet will be filed within 90 days, and the case will be processed through a fast-track court for a speedy verdict.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren also announced Monday that the government has decided to constitute a committee chaired by IAS officer Amitabh Kaushal to lead exam reforms. It will engage with various institutions, intellectuals, and experts to successfully implement the reform process.
The accepted demands
On 9 August, after a marathon six-hour meeting with the students’ delegation, the Jharkhand government had agreed to the demand to cancel three examinations, and possibly order an ED probe into the 14th JPSC Combined Civil Services Exam (CSE).
Following the talks, the government announced that it had decided to address the irregularities associated with the 14th JPSC and the 2023-25 backlog recruitments through a two-pronged approach.
The CID will investigate the criminal aspects, and given the financial implications and evidence of illicit financial transactions, a request will be made for an ED investigation.
Following this, he had said, a fast-track court will be constituted, and charge sheets against the accused will be filed within 90 days.
On the students’ demand for structural reforms in recruitment exams, the government said that a committee comprising experts from IIT-ISM, IIM Ranchi, and XLRI would be formed to guide the process.
However, the protestors had said that they would continue their agitation until the JSSC-CGL examination result was cancelled and a CBI probe was ordered into the alleged irregularities in government recruitment exams.
While the JSSC-CGL exam has been cancelled, the students say that they will “not budge until the very last demand is met”.
“Today, on behalf of the JPSC-JSSC Reform Forum, we thank the CM and the state government for taking a historic and bold decision in the interest of students. CM, you have taken a very courageous step. We just have one more demand: that all the exams that you have said you will cancel and those that are mentioned in our demand letter, please order a CBI investigation into them. If you order a CBI investigation, then all of us students are with you,” student leader Ravindra Paswan told the media.
He said that while Pandey and Ansari requested the students to call off the agitation, the government had not agreed yet to the demand for a CBI probe.
“We are still persisting with our demand for a CBI probe. We will study the assurances given by the chief minister, specifically, the official notification and press release that are expected, and then, tomorrow, we will certainly inform you about the strategy for our movement… Our demand remains that there should be a CBI inquiry,” he asserted.
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‘Gratitude for Rahul Gandhi’
After ending his hunger strike, Devendra Nath Mahto extended his gratitude to the Jharkhand government, the chief minister, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for their “magnanimity”.
Student leader Umme Habiba thanked the government and Hemant Soren for listening to their demands.
“Our government has proven that it is a government for the Adivasis and the indigenous people, and truly cares for their interests. They have proven that ‘Hemant hai toh Himmat hai’… I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to the chief minister for taking such a major decision, on the assurance to cancel the complex CGL recruitment process,” Habiba said.
“I also want to thank Rahul Gandhi, whose representatives consistently met with us to offer support and assurances…I thank everyone, including Irfan Ansari and Dipika Pandey, as well as Jairam Mahato and Devendra Mahato. Everyone fought this battle and fought it well,” she added.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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