Jharkhand protest: Students' demands ‘genuine’, says minister after back-to-back meetings, govt releases email ID

The Jharkhand government held talks with various outfits amid protests over the issue of paper leak in recruitment exams. "Demands of protesting aspirants are genuine," state minister Sanjay Prasad Yadav, who is a member of the panel set up by the government, said after back-to-back meetings.

As the meeting concluded, Yadav was quoted as saying, “All the students’ demands are justified, and we will take up their issues with the Chief Minister [Hemant Soren]. All their grievances will be addressed.”

The state government officials arrived at the State Guest House in Ranchi on Saturday to meet the student delegation and discuss aspirants' demands.

A five-member panel of the government, which included three ministers, first met the faction of protesters led by JLKM leader Devendra Nath Mahto, whose fast over the issue entered its seventh day. They then met delegations of the Congress-backed NSUI, ACS and JCM.

On Friday night, the government held similar talks with a 10-member delegation of the JPSC/JSSC Reforms Manch.

In view of the meeting, heavy security was deployed at the State Guest House in Ranchi, where the eight-member student delegation will meet the State government officials to discuss the demands of the students.

What did protesters demand?

The ruling JMM's students' wing Jharkhand Chhatra Morcha (JCM) placed five demands before the government panel, including the cancellation of the 14th Jharkhand PSC Civil Services Examination, PTI reported.

The NSUI placed six demands before the government, including a CID probe into all JPSC and JSSC examinations under doubt within 90 days and the setting up of Jharkhand Testing Agency (JTA) on the lines of the National Testing Agency, its spokesperson Sanjiv Shah said.

The government panel's first meeting was with Mahto's grouping, JPSC JSSC Candidates' Forum, and it lasted around two hours.

"The government assured us of a quick decision to resolve the issues raised by us. However, our protests will continue until all our demands, including cancellation of the 14th JPSC exam, are met," a leader of the forum said.

"We have been demanding immediate cancellation of the 14th Jharkhand PSC Civil Services Examination, and all exams conducted by that agency," Mahto told PTI.

"They should not procrastinate on it. How the government responds to the demands will be interesting to see. If the government had fulfilled the demands on Friday after the talks they held with the 10-member delegation of students, there would be no need for the meeting today, because our demands are almost the same," Mahto said.

Jharkhand Govt releases email ID, seeks suggestions for reform

The Jharkhand government has set up a dedicated email ID to collect suggestions from students and other stakeholders on policy reforms. The move came amid ongoing protests by job aspirants over alleged irregularities in the state's recruitment examination.

After a meeting with a delegation of agitating Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) aspirants in Ranchi, Jharkhand minister Sudivya Kumar Sonu said that the government is committed to engaging with all student groups to reach a collective decision.

“We will continue to meet with various student groups and stakeholders. We will meet with all of them,” he was quoted by ANI as saying.

The minister added, “…we are releasing an email ID — JPSSC.feedback@gmail.com. Any student, individual, or stakeholder can send suggestions to this address, and we intend to formulate a reform policy and reach a collective decision based on everyone's input.”

'The government will take their concerns into account based on the emails received," Sonu said.

The state administration urged aspirants and concerned stakeholders to utilise the newly launched email platform to share constructive suggestions and feedback for streamlining the recruitment process.

Jharkhand protest

The development came in the wake of widespread protests at the Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium in Ranchi by candidates demanding transparency and structural changes in competitive examinations conducted by the JPSC and JSSC.

The protesters demanded the cancellation of all JSSC CGL, JSSC JE, and PGT exams after 2019, a CBI investigation into the irregularities, strict action against the "mafias and agencies involved," disclosure of category-wise cut-offs (UR, EWS, BC-I, BC-II, SC, ST), OMR copies, and response sheets for transparency regarding the process and a recruitment calendar modelled after UPSC/SSC standards.

Students and aspirants have been continuously struggling since July 5, after exposing irregularities in the 14th Civil Services Preliminary Examination conducted by JPSC on July 2.

These students are currently on the 15th day of their indefinite Satyagraha (hunger strike/peaceful protest). In support of these students, student leader Devendra Nath Mahto has been on a hunger strike for the past six days.

The medical team on Saturday checked the vitals of the student protestors staging a hunger strike at the Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium in Jharkhand against the alleged irregularities in the JPSC-JSSC exam.