Ranchi | All three members of the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) resigned on Sunday amid the massive protests over the alleged irregularities in recruitment tests conducted by the agency.
Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar accepted the resignation of Ajeeta Bhattacharya, Anima Hansda and Jamal Ahmad, according to a statement issued by the Lok Bhavan.
The resignations came after the CID summoned the three members for questioning in connection with the allegations of irregularities, including paper leaks.
Bhattacharya, who is the wife of JMM leader Supriyo Bhattacharya, is scheduled to be questioned on August 10, Ahmad on August 12, and Hansda on August 14, officials said.
The three members were appointed in September 2021.
On July 22, JPSC chairperson L Khiangte had tendered his resignation.
Nineteen people have so far been arrested in connection with the alleged irregularities in JPSC examinations, while Khiangte has been questioned four times since July 28.
The CID questioned Khiangte for nine hours on July 28, and eight hours each on July 29 and July 31.
Khiangte had resigned a day before the CID searched multiple locations, including his official residence, in connection with the alleged irregularities in the PSC examinations.
Khiangte had said he "voluntarily chose to resign" to ensure an impartial investigation into the matter.
He was appointed to the post in February last year after he retired as the state's chief secretary.
The JPSC earlier postponed the Combined Civil Services Mains Exam, scheduled from July 25 to July 27, citing "unavoidable circumstances", amid protests.
Ranchi | The Jharkhand government has begun fresh talks on Sunday with aspirants protesting alleged recruitment exam irregularities for the 16th day now, with a prominent student faction terming the Hemant Soren dispensation's move "political manoeuvring".
The decision to hold another round of talks was taken after a series of meetings between the government and student groups on Friday night and throughout Saturday failed to break the deadlock.
Meanwhile, the condition of student leader Devenedra Nath Mahto, who has been on indefinite hunger strike for around a week now at Ranchi's Jaipal Singh Stadium, suddenly deteriorated around 3 am. Doctors recorded his blood glucose level at 53.
Another student on fast, Rahul Krantim, is under medical supervision at Sadar Hospital's intensive care unit.
In total, six protesters are on an indefinite hunger strike.
Dumri MLA and Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha supremo Jairam Mahto sat on a day-long fast on the old Vidhan Sabha premises, extending support to agitating students.
Activist Rajesh Hindustani, popularly known as 'Tiranga Man', also joined the students' protest at Ranchi's Jaipal Singh Stadium. He claimed that he has been holding the tricolour for 15 years since the Anna Hazare movement against corruption.
"I carry the tricolour every day to remind people of what is written in the Constitution," the activist, who had earlier joined students' protest against NEET exam paper leak at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, said. "When I came to know that Jharkhand students are protesting against exam irregularities, I joined them."
Union Minister of State for Defence, Sanjay Seth, Jharkhand BJP chief and MP Aditya Sahu and the party's chief whip Naveen Jailswal also visited the protesting students at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium on Sunday morning.
"The chief minister should have met the students on the very first day of the protest. But he has been silent. The government has adopted the Britishers' 'divide and rule' policy by inviting different organisations for talks, seeking their charter of demands.
"There is no need for dialogue anymore. The students' demands are simple: cancelling the examination and probing the irregularities by the CBI," Seth said.
The state government on Friday night held discussions with the JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch that has been spearheading the agitation. Throughout the next day, it held four rounds of talks with different student groups, including the Congress' student wing NSUI, Jharkhand Chhatra Morcha (JCM) and Adivasi Chhatra Sangh (ACS).
However, since the meetings remained inconclusive, the government decided to hold a sixth round of talks with student representatives around 12 pm on Sunday.
The backlash was immediate.
The JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch accused the Jharkhand government of "political manoeuvring" by announcing another round of talks with student organisations, alleging the move was aimed at creating divisions among protesting students and diverting people's attention from their core demands.
Ravindra Paswan, a leader of the JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch, claimed the government was attempting to weaken the agitation by holding discussions with organisations that had "played no role in the ongoing protest".
"This is political manoeuvring by the government. It is trying to create a divide among students and divert attention. But they should know that all students are united," he said.
On Saturday, the panel, comprising ministers Dipika Pandey Singh, Sudivya Kumar, Chamra Linda and Sanjay Prasad Yadav, held separate meetings with student bodies including the Congress-backed NSUI, JCM and Adivasi Chhatra Sangh ACS, and sought their respective charters of demands.
The government, however, said the discussions were positive and that it was considering the concerns raised by the protesters.
The JCM submitted five demands, including cancellation of the 14th JPSC Civil Services Examination. The NSUI made six demands, including a CID probe into all Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) examinations under suspicion within 90 days and the establishment of a Jharkhand Testing Agency on the lines of the National Testing Agency.
ACS leader Kartik Oraon demanded inclusion of tribal and regional languages as qualifying papers in recruitment exams and cancellation of tests in which irregularities were found.
Higher and Technical Education Minister Sudivya Kumar said the government had issued an email ID to seek suggestions from aspirants on reforms in the recruitment process.
Despite the talks, the protesters have maintained that their agitation will continue until all their demands are fulfilled. They have also announced a march to the Assembly on August 10 if the government fails to meet their demands by Sunday.
Meanwhile, the All India Students' Association (AISA) has set up a separate platform at the stadium on Saturday. However, its leaders said the move should not be seen as a separate agitation.
AISA national president Neha Bora, who faced an ink attack during Friday's Assembly March near Birsa Chowk, briefly joined the protest and raised slogans demanding cancellation of the 14th JPSC and JSSC-CGL examinations.
The outfit's Ranchi unit chief Vijay Kumar said the organisation had the same demands as the larger agitation and that its members would participate in the August 10 march without carrying the AISA banner.
The agitation has also witnessed protests by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), whose members on Friday scuffled with police while attempting to break through barricades near the chief minister's residence. The ABVP has announced a separate Vidhan Sabha march on August 11.
Nineteen people have so far been arrested in connection with alleged irregularities in JPSC exams, while former panel chairperson L Khiangte has been questioned four times since July 28.
Ranchi | Barely two hours after a government-appointed panel claimed to have accepted 98 per cent of demands of students protesting against alleged irregularities in recruitment exams in Jharkhand, demonstrators alleged that the JMM-led dispensation was "spreading lies" as it agreed to cancel only 3 of 13 competitive tests.
The agitating students sought support from political parties and common people for their ongoing peaceful democratic protest and proposed 'Vidhan Sabha March' on August 10.
Addressing a press conference here, the demonstrators said they would not allow anti-social elements to disrupt their democratic agitation.
"The Jharkhand government is spreading lies that it fulfilled 98 per cent of our demands. It cancelled only 3 of 13 exams sought by us. We appeal to all students from Jharkhand to join 'Vidhan Sabha March' on Monday in support of our demand for a CBI probe which will expose irregularities in all examinations conducted by the state," a student leader alleged.
Another student leader Ravindra Paswan accused the government of being "adamant on a probe by CID, which is known for cover-ups".
The protesters said their protest will be "peaceful and democratic".
"We will not allow anti-social elements to disrupt our peaceful, democratic agitation," another student leader said.
The students appealed to the people and political parties to make Monday's agitation a "mass movement" and sought moral support from parents for their sons-daughters' agitation without any political banner.
"We want to remove the job-selling system in Jharkhand; our agitation is non-violent," a protester said.
The students' outburst came after a Jharkhand government panel said at a press conference that it is unfortunate that students failed to withdraw their protest despite 98 per cent of their demands being met.
The students' protest entered its 16th day on Sunday, while six of them are on hunger strike protesting against alleged irregularities in recruitment exams.