The Jharkhand government has announced fresh talks with students protesting against alleged irregularities in recruitment exams, but a prominent student group has accused the government of ‘political manoeuvring’. The JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch, which has been spearheading the protest, alleged that the government is trying to create divisions among students and divert attention from their core demands.
The group claimed that despite placing all their points before the government during a meeting on Friday night, the panel chose to call Congress and JMM-affiliated students’ bodies who had no role in the agitation and took their charter of demands on Saturday. ‘This is political manoeuvring by the government. It is trying to create a divide among students and divert people’s attention. But, they should know all students are united,’ said Ravindra Paswan, a leader of JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch.
The government panel, comprising ministers Dipika Pandey Singh, Sudivya Kumar, Chamra Linda, and Sanjay Prasad Yadav, has held five rounds of talks with various agitating outfits since Friday night but failed to break the deadlock. The protesting job aspirants have decided that their stir will continue until all their demands are met. The government has decided to hold a sixth round of talks with student representatives around 12 pm on Sunday.
The agitators are demanding comprehensive reform in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC), besides an independent probe into the alleged irregularities, either by the CBI or a panel of retired high court judges from outside the state. The protesters 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) set up a separate platform at the stadium on Saturday, but its leaders said the move should not be seen as a separate agitation. 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. Around eight to 10 ABVP protesters were detained during the march but were subsequently released, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Headquarters) Ajay Aryan said. The ABVP has announced a separate Vidhan Sabha march on August 11.
