After Jharkhand HC Stays Exam Cancellation, Students Feel 'Cheated', Prepare for Fresh Agitation

New Delhi: There is fresh uncertainty in Jharkhand as the high court imposed an interim stay on an August 18 decision of the state government to cancel 44 recruitment exams and their outcome. The decision of the high court on Thursday (August 20) followed pleas filed by around 450 students who had successfully cleared the cancelled tests.

In response to the development, prominent leaders of the agitation against examination failures said the state government had "deceived" students and their families and that a fresh agitation would begin, starting Friday (August 21), with burning Chief Minister Hemant Soren's effigy in multiple locations.

"The government deceived lakhs of students in Jharkhand," said Ravindra Paswan, of the JPSC-JSSC Reform Manch. "But...a new fight takes birth. We, the students, will give you an answer for this," he said.

"We will announce our next steps soon," student leader Piyush Kumar. "We had given them [the government] a 60-day ultimatum. We will do something before that. Now 'Sampoorn Kranti' and 'Ulgulan' will take place in a constitutional manner. Tomorrow, students will burn the effigy of CM Hemant Soren in all 24 districts."

"For such an important matter of students, the Advocate General did not even appear before the high court. No senior advocate was there. The lawyer present did not say one word. This shows that this was a trap to end the protest, ruin 26 days of our hard work and play with the emotions of the students of Jharkhand," said student leader Kunal Pratap Singh as per a Times of India report.

The state government has meanwhile been directed by the high court to submit its response to the students' plea not to cancel the tests by the next date of hearing, September 15.

Further, as per the order, candidates whose exams have been cancelled have to submit an affidavit stating that if they are found involved in in examination irregularities any manner, they will be affected and bound to accept the order, advocate Kumar Harsh, representing some of the student petitioners, told reporters.

Also on Thursday, a social activist has sought a Central Bureu of Investigation (CBI) probe into recruitments in Jharkhand in a plea before the Supreme Court. According to a Live Law report, the petitioner, Harisharan Devgan, has sought the transfer of investigation from the state to the Union government.

The Hemnat Soren government now faces the possibility of the student-youth movement that rocked the state for several weeks since July reviving its demands. The students had called off their protest against examination failures on August 20 after the state government decided to cancel all these tests.

“We are not ending our agitation, we are deferring it,” Paswan had said at a press conference after the government's announcement. He had called on the Soren government to ‘expose all exam mafias’ in the state and cancel the results of all compromised tests within two months’ time, failing which he said his outfit would resume its protests.

The outfit had described it as a victory for the students at the first stage.

The 44 cancelled competitive tests include those conducted by JPSC, JSSC and outsourced agencies, including the JSSC-CGL and examinations conducted by TSR Data Processing Private Limited (TDPL). The cancellationn covers examination where TDPL was involved in any way, including tests it conducted as far back as 2014.

The government had said that the cancellations were based on findings of the CID and SIT in the state. The cancelled tests included many for which successful candidates had already taken up their posts.

"It is true that those who are already in service might have felt injustice being done. Let's see what happens now, " JMM MP Mahua Maji told ANI Thursday.

As per NDTV, the petitioners argued that while action could be taken against any candidate who is found to have played a dubious role, it would be unjust to remove all successful candidates from their jobs.

The cancelled examinations include recruitment tests for the JPSC 11th to 13th civil services examinations for drug inspectors, assistant professors, deputy collectors, dental doctors, assistant engineers, civil judges, additional public prosecutors and forest range officers, among others, NDTV reports. All of these are covered by Thursday's stay order.

Around 2,000 such individuals, particularly those who were recruited to government jobs through the JSSC-CGL, had protested the cancellation, as per a PTI report.

The state government had decided to approach the Jharkhand high court to set up fast-track courts to examine the students' allegations of irregularities in conducting the JPSC and JSSC tests in the state. These two examinations were the immediate trigger for the protests in the state, which lasted roughly one month.

It has also set up an exam reforms committee headed by IAS officer Amitabh Kaushal to reform the examination system in the state.

The Reform Manch announced on Wednesday (August 19) that it was putting its agitation on hold for two months. The other group, the JPSC JSSC Abhyarthi Nyay Manch, also said it is ending its agitation.

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