Jharkhand Government and Student Protests Deadlocked Over Examination Irregularities

RANCHI: The deadlock between the Jharkhand government and students protesting alleged irregularities in JPSC and JSSC examinations continued on Sunday, with a sixth round of talks failing to resolve the dispute. The students said they would continue their agitation and take out a peaceful march to the Jharkhand Assembly on Monday, August 10. According to the students, the government has agreed to cancel the Jharkhand Public Service Commission Preliminary Test (JPSC-PT), but no consensus was reached over the cancellation of the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) examination. The talks, held at the state guest house in Ranchi, remained positive but inconclusive, with a prominent student faction terming the Hemant Soren dispensation's move " political manoeuvring ". Student leaders said they were not ready to compromise until their demand for a CBI probe was accepted. After the meeting, Minister Sudivya Kumar Sonu said that the government had accepted 98 per cent of the students' demands, but student leaders remained firm on their demand for the cancellation of the JSSC-CGL examination. “The state government does not have the authority to cancel the JSSC- CGL exam, as it was conducted following the directives from the High Court and the Supreme Court. In such a situation, the government cannot cancel the exam on its own,” the minister said, further clarifying that the government cannot cancel the appointments of candidates selected through CGL. The minister, however, said that if required, a probe committee headed by a retired judge could be formed to investigate the alleged irregularities in the CGL examination. Sonu also said that a fast-track court would be set up to deal with cases related to examination irregularities and that charge sheets would be filed within 90 days. The state government would also recommend an Enforcement Directorate probe into alleged financial irregularities in JPSC examinations, he said. The government also plans to form a panel comprising experts from IITs, IIMs and XLRI to recommend reforms to the state's examination system. A separate panel headed by a retired High Court judge would examine alleged irregularities in the JSSC-CGL examination, the minister said.