Jharkhand agrees to cancel three recruitment exams as student protest enters its 16th day

The Jharkhand government has agreed to cancel three examinations after six hours of discussions with two separate delegations of student groups. The protest in Ranchi had entered its sixteenth day, with six demonstrators on an indefinite hunger strike.

The three examinations to be cancelled are the Jharkhand Public Service Commission backlog examination of 2023, the backlog examination of 2025, and the preliminary examination of the 14th JPSC Combined Civil Services. The government also accepted a demand to bring in the Enforcement Directorate to investigate alleged financial irregularities connected to the 14th JPSC examination.

Amid the protests, three members of the Jharkhand Public Service Commission resigned. Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar accepted the resignations of Ajeeta Bhattacharya, Anima Hansda and Jamal Ahmad. The commission's chairperson, L Khiangte, had already resigned on July 22 and has been questioned four times since July 28. Nineteen people have been arrested so far in connection with the alleged irregularities.

The talks brought together two major factions of the movement, the JPSC-JSSC Reform Manch and the JPSC-JSSC Abhyarthi Nyay Manch, along with representatives associated with AISA. Under the agreement announced afterwards, criminal aspects of the cases will be investigated by the CID while financial and economic aspects go to the Enforcement Directorate.

One demand was not met. On the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level examination, the students want the paper cancelled and a CBI probe. The government instead proposed a high-level judicial inquiry committee headed by a retired judge. Technical and Higher Education Minister Sudivya Kumar Sonu said the government had accepted 98 per cent of the demands but could not agree to a CBI probe into that examination, because it had been conducted under the monitoring of the High Court and the Supreme Court.

Student leader Ravindra Paswan said most demands had been met but that the protesters would not compromise until the demand for a CBI probe was fulfilled, and that a march to the Jharkhand Assembly would go ahead. Another organiser, Chandan Rajak, said the students had asked for the cancellation of every examination linked to one private testing agency, which the government did not accept.

Investigators have arrested Abhay Tiwari, a Block Supply Officer in Godda district, whom the CID alleges played a major role in a recruitment racket. According to investigators he was simultaneously working as the marketing manager of TSR Data Processing Private Limited, the private testing agency associated with conducting the examination.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren said the concerns of the youth were his concerns and that those guilty of irregularities would face strict action, adding that dialogue rather than force was the way to settle the matter. The Governor also urged students to resolve the issue through discussion. As longer-term reform, the government agreed to seek help from institutions such as the IIMs and XISS to overhaul how the two commissions function, to set up fast-track courts, and to have investigation reports submitted within 90 days.