The Jharkhand student protests have entered their 12th day now and show no signs of losing steam. Having started right on the heels of the Jantar Mantar demonstrations, the Jharkhand protests are not being covered by the media as much as the Delhi ones.
Thousands of government job aspirants have been camped out at the state’s Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium for almost two weeks now, through rain and police resistance, refusing to leave until their demands are heard.
But what are they demanding? And what have the aspirants revealed, in their own words, about their struggles, frustration and eventual anger?
What Is Happening In Jharkhand?
The Jharkhand protests started on July 29, when people from different regions across the state came together at the Bapu Vatika, eventually shifting to the Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium. These protests started after an OMR answer sheet from the 14th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) Combined Civil Services preliminary examination began circulating on social media in Jharkhand.
What caught many people’s attention and led to anger was that the candidate had answered fewer than half the questions correctly and still cleared the cut-off. This incident took place just days after the JPSC prelims results.
The protests, though, are not limited to JPSC aspirants, with grievances over the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) recruitment examinations feeding into them as well.
The students, alleging paper leaks and other irregularities in the 14th JPSC Civil Services Examination, are now demanding an investigation by central agencies. Specifically, they want the probe carried out by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) instead of the CID, since they fear the JMM-led government could attempt to ‘whitewash’ the investigation with the latter.
They also believe that the Enforcement Directorate and other central agencies should be involved in the probe as well.
Protester Vinay Mehta, speaking with PTI, said, “We have completely lost faith in the ongoing CID investigation. Earlier, the government got the JSSC-CGL paper leak probed by the CID. The agency itself found that answers to 135 of the 150 questions had been leaked and 120 questions matched the examination paper exactly.”
Beyond just cancelling the 14th JPSC Combined Preliminary Examination, held on April 19, the protesters also want an impartial investigation into the problems seen with different competitive examinations, including JPSC, JSSC-CGL, JPSC-JET, Assistant Teacher, Secondary Teacher, and Police Recruitment examinations.
They also seek punishment for those involved, transparency in the recruitment process, and the publication of a regular examination calendar.
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Jharkhand Aspirants On What They’ve Given Up
Devashish, the son of a farmer and one of the many sitting in at the protests at the Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium in Ranchi, spoke to The Quint about why the youth of the state are so angry. He talked about the aspirations they once had, and how, over time, they became victims themselves.
He said, “We hoped it would help pull my father out of his lifelong struggle against the heat, the rain, and the hardships of farming. But instead of rescuing him from that struggle, we ourselves have become trapped in new ones.”
Speaking about the struggles students appearing for these exams go through, he said, “The struggle is such that there was the JSSC CGL exam. That exam was held in 2024. We board a train or a bus, travel all the way to the exam centre, pay the fare, and then the next day we find out the exam has been cancelled.”
He further added, “You’ll find students sleeping on the floor everywhere. I think the maximum pocket money most students here receive is around ₹3,000 to ₹3,500. And in this era of rising prices, that amount is enough for neither room rent nor food.
Some students work part-time in malls, while others give tuition classes just to survive and pay the application fees. The hardships are immense. Some even work as Zomato or Swiggy delivery partners just to afford the cost of travelling to exam centres.”
Devashish also revealed that although the JSSC CGL application fee was reduced from ₹1,000 to ₹100, the “₹900 difference has never been refunded to us. The exam kept getting leaked, kept getting cancelled, and in the end, recruitments were carried out in a hurry.”
Piyush Singh, a 34-year-old from Bokaro, also spoke with The Print about his own story. Despite having appeared for these exams seven times in the past seven years, and clearing even the initial rounds, he is still without a job.
Singh said, “I am 34 years old and have got caught in the endless cycle of paper leaks, cancellations or delays. Even if everything goes well and JPSC and JSSC take the examination, the time period between prelims and the main exam is two weeks, but it will take one year to declare the results.”
He stressed that it is not just about the paper leaks, but the time in between that truly hurts the youth, saying, “The process has become a punishment for us students in the state.”
Another aspirant, 29-year-old Priyanka Kumari, spoke about how she has appeared for twelve government recruitment exams over five years of preparation, eight of them within Jharkhand. And in every single one of them, something or another has gone wrong, from paper leaks to seat-selling and OMR manipulation.
Speaking with The Print, Priyanka said, “It’s not the exam that has failed us; it is the system. People do the setting. They reach centres in neighbouring states such as Bihar, West Bengal and even Nepal before the examination.”
She added, “A genuine student has no chance. What you are seeing on the streets of Ranchi today is the anger that has been building for years.”
Rahul Kumar Kranti, a JPSC aspirant protesting, was quoted by PTI as saying, “JPSC papers have been leaked several times. This time, candidates’ OMR sheets have been leaked. Chief Minister Hemant Soren has ordered a CID investigation, but we are not satisfied.”
Sneha, a student coming from Ranchi’s tribal community, also told PTI, “I have been preparing for competitive examinations since 2023. If we are not given an equal and fair opportunity, how will we ever get a job? I appeal to CM Hemant Soren to listen to our demands.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Quint, The Print, The Wire
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
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