Jharkhand protest: Govt says most demands accepted as students remain firm on CGL cancellation and CBI probe

The third round of talks between the Jharkhand government and the students protesting alleged irregularities in the state's competitive examinations on Aug 9 ended inconclusively, even though the former claimed it had accepted most of the agitators' demands.

Citing its accommodative approach towards the protesters' demand, the Hemant Soren government called on them to end their agitation.

On the other hand, the protesters remained firm on their demand for the cancellation of the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level Examination (JSSC CGL 2024) and a CBI probe into all the irregularities in various government recruitment examinations.

To press for their demands and maintain the momentum of their agitation, the protesters have decided to go forward with their previously announced programme of marching to the state Assembly on Monday.

After the talks ended without an agreement, the group of four ministers tasked with holding discussions expressed their disappointment at the lack of consensus.

Addressing a press conference at the Soochna Bhavan, Higher and Technical Education Minister Sudivya Kumar Sonu contended that the government had accepted most of the students' demands, but despite this, they had decided to continue their agitation, and termed it "unfortunate".

He appealed to the protesters to give up their adamant attitude, withdraw their agitation, and use the path of discussion to resolve the issues.

He also appealed to the students' parents and guardians to convince them to stop the agitation.

The minister also revealed that the government had agreed to scrap the 14th JPSC preliminary exams and the 2023-2025 civil service backlog exams.

Apart from this, it had agreed to recommend that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) join the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in probing the financial aspects of the exam-related irregularities.

The minister said that it had been agreed that a comprehensive investigation will also be conducted into all other examinations administered by the controversial agency TDPL, and strict action will be taken if evidence of wrongdoing is found.

On the demand to cancel the CGL examination, Sudivya Kumar laid out the government's stand, noting that it was conducted in accordance with Supreme Court and High Court guidelines and that appointments based on it have already been made, taking its cancellation out of the government's jurisdiction.

Although the government proposed having the matter investigated under the supervision of a retired judge, the students did not agree to this.

The government also said that it would take speedy measures to reform the examination system, and all the suggestions of the students and other stakeholders would be most welcome. A portal would be launched for such suggestions.

Sudivya Kumar also assured that the guilty would face stiff action but rued that even when the government had accepted all legitimate demands, the students had chosen to continue the path of agitation and confrontation and stuck to their plans of besieging the Assembly.

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