New Delhi: Jharkhand students protesting irregularities in recruitment exams since 29 July announced a two-month pause in their agitation Wednesday, a day after the Hemant Soren government cancelled 22 past exams, kept six on hold pending an enquiry into agencies conducting them, and placed 17 exams under CID inquiry.
In a press conference Wednesday, student leader Ravindra Paswan said, “This is the 26th day of our protest…As a result of students’ agitation, the state government and CM Hemant Soren had to accept our demands. Our demand for reforms had been accepted in the second deliberation itself, but today, all the demands for cancellation of exams have also been accepted…I would like to give credit for the cancellation of exams to all students and youth of Jharkhand, because you protested with discipline and made your demands…We got 22 exams cancelled. This is a major victory for all of us.”
He then announced that the JPSC-JSSC Reform Manch has decided to pause its protest for two months, giving the state government time to act on its assurances.
“We felt that if the CM is taking the effort to openly cancel so many exams, then his intentions are in the students’ interests,” he said. “We are not ending the protest, only postponing it for now. In these two months, we demand that the government must fulfil 100% of our demands, expose examination mafias, and cancel all exams which have not been cancelled so far. If in these two months we feel that the government is not with students, the protest will be restarted after two months and that will be much stronger.”
Ranchi’s Jaipal Singh Munda stadium had witnessed celebrations Monday night, after Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced the cancellation of the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission-Combined Graduate Level (JSSC CGL) examination—a key demand of the students—and all exams conducted by testing firm TSR Data Processing Private Limited (TDPL).
Student leader and Jharkhand Loktantrik Krankari Morcha party member Devendra Nath Mahato had ended his hunger strike after 16 days on Monday in the presence of Jharkhand ministers Dipika Pandey Singh and Irfan Ansari. Two more students, Rahul Kranti and Umme Habiba, also ended their hunger strike the same day.
The remaining two students, 30-year-old Rupesh Kumar Pal and 28-year-old Sabita Kumari ended their hunger strike on Wednesday.
The Jharkhand government also issued a notification on examination reforms Tuesday. The notification says, “In the in the light of complaints received regarding irregularities in the current and previous examinations conducted by Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC), in the course of investigation by CID/SIT, in the light of facts brought before the government and suggestions received through various mediums, a situation has arisen for examination reforms.”
It said the Council of Ministers had therefore decided that the high court would be requested to constitute a fast-track court that could hear the case regarding irregularities and misconduct in JPSC/JSSC. Additionally, an internal monitoring cell will be constituted in JPSC/JSSC.
A committee will also be formed under the chairmanship of IAS Amitabh Kaushal to comprehensively study exam reforms in the JPSC/JSSC, with the director of a prestigious institution as a member, along with other officials. This committee has to submit its report to the government within the next two months.
A total of 22 exams, advertised between 2023 to 2026, have been cancelled. Nineteen of these have been cancelled “in light of the complaint of irregularities in the current examinations conducted by Jharkhand Public Service Commission and conducted through TDPL”. Two more exams have been cancelled because they were partially conducted by TDPL or other controversial agencies.
Six exams advertised between 2024 and 2025 have been kept on hold, with the notification saying that while the preliminary work in these examinations was done by an agency other than TDPL, the state government has handed over the verification of the credentials of the agency associated with the preliminary examination to the CID.
Seventeen exams, advertised between 2010 and 2022, have been put under the CID scanner to investigate “possible irregularities”.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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