Jharkhand Students Protest: Hemant Govt Initiates Talks Over JPSC-JSSC Row, Aspirants Demand Public Dialogue

The Hemant Soren government has initiated talks with students protesting alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC), Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (JSSC CGL) and other competitive examinations. However, the agitating aspirants have refused to participate in closed-door discussions, insisting that any dialogue must be held publicly in the presence of the media and cameras.

On Wednesday, Ranchi Sub Divisional Officer (SDO), Kumar Rajat, reached Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium, the protest site and said that the government is ready for talks. SDO asked them to send their five to seven representatives, saying that the government wants to talk about every issue and find a solution through dialogue.

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 "They (protesting aspirants) have sought some time. They have been given the same. They will then tell us. We will continue to be here,” ANI quoted Kumar Rajat.

The state government has also formed a committee of ministers and senior officers to communicate with the students. Rajat added that complaints relating to the discrepancies in the recruitment examination have already been investigated and the respective agencies are working speedily on the matter.

However, the protesters rejected the proposal for private negotiations, maintaining that transparency was non-negotiable. They said they would participate in talks only if the discussions were conducted publicly with media presence.

Student Leader Devendra Mahato To Nominate Representatives

Student leader Devendra Mahato, who has been on a hunger strike for the last five days, said on Thursday that the protesters would nominate their representatives for the meeting. However, he made it clear that the indefinite hunger strike and agitation would continue until their demands were fulfilled.

The stir started following the declaration of the result of the 14th JPSC Preliminary Exam on July 5 on the grounds of the huge-scale irregularities during the recruitment process. For the last 12 days, the movement against irregularities turned massive, with hundreds of aspirants joining the round-the-clock protest in Jharkhand’s Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium in Ranchi

Mahato Consumes Water After Video Call With Sonam Wangchuk

Mahato, for the four days of his indefinite hunger strike, refused to eat food and even drink water; however, on the fifth day, after talking to activist Sonam Wangchuk, he agreed to consume water and remain on hunger strike till their demands are met.

“After speaking with Sonam Wangchuk, I decided to continue the strike. Mahatma Gandhi also observed hunger strikes while drinking water, and Sonam Wangchuk told me that he had done the same. He said that giving up water is equivalent to suicide. I do not want to commit suicide. I want to awaken the conscience of the government. He told me that our cause is just, that we are fighting for the truth, and that he supports this struggle. Many people across the country also requested that I continue in this manner. Therefore, I have decided to continue my hunger strike while drinking water, as my objective is to awaken the government's conscience, not to end my life," Mahato said.  

The students have been demanding a CBI inquiry into the alleged recruitment scam. Meanwhile, the state government had argued that CID is also conducting an inquiry and a few persons have been arrested.

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20 Arrested So Far

In the biggest breakthrough so far, the CID arrested Rakshak Singh, an accountant with TDPL, the agency that conducted the examination, on Wednesday. Singh, who was part of the examination process and had also cleared the JPSC Preliminary Test himself, was arrested from Lucknow and brought to Ranchi.

The CID has also arrested five more individuals in connection with the case, taking the total number of arrests to 20. The investigation is being carried out by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is examining digital records, application logs and other documents to determine the extent of the alleged irregularities.