Jharkhand paper leak row: Govt talks fail to break deadlock, protest to continue

Talks between the Jharkhand government and protesting aspirants over alleged recruitment exam paper leaks failed to break the deadlock on Saturday. Protesters said their agitation would continue until demands, including cancellation of the 14th JPSC exam and an independent probe, are met

Ranchi: The Jharkhand government on Saturday held talks with various outfits amid the massive agitation over the alleged paper leaks in recruitment exams, but failed to break the deadlock as the protesting aspirants decided that their stir would continue until all their demands are met.

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 had held similar talks with a 10-member delegation of the JPSC/JSSC Reforms Manch.

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“Demands of protesting aspirants are genuine; we will place these before Chief Minister Hemant Soren,” state minister Sanjay Prasad Yadav, who is a member of the panel set up by the government, said after the back-to-back meetings. 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.

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. State minister Dipika Pandey Singh said the talks were held in a positive atmosphere and recruitment discrepancies explained by students will be resolved soon.

Higher and Technical Education Minister Sudivya Kumar said the government has issued an email ID, jpsc.jssc.feedback@gmail.com, seeking suggestions from aspirants on reforming the recruitment processes. The government undertook the parleys as the protest over the paper leaks entered its 15th day.

“We have been demanding immediate cancellation of the 14th Jharkhand PSC Civil Services Examination, and all exams conducted by that agency,” Mahto told PTI. He said since the students have been protesting peacefully for over two weeks, the state government should fulfil their demands immediately.

“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.

“My health condition is deteriorating day by day. Blood pressure and sugar levels are dropping. The doctor informed me about a chest infection and advised hospital admission. If these conditions continue, it will be dangerous for me. I am only able to listen, think, and speak slowly,” he added.

The protesters are seeking an independent probe into the alleged irregularities, either by the CBI or by a panel of retired high court judges from outside the state. So far, 19 people have been arrested in connection with irregularities in the JPSC exams, while the agency’s former chairman, L Khiangte, has been questioned four times since July 28.