Jharkhand exam row: 2,700 recruited candidates protest against cancellation of 22 exams
Job winners demand rollback of government orders, saying action should target tainted candidates rather than merit-based recruits
Around 2,700 candidates, who recently secured government jobs through recruitment tests in Jharkhand, held a protest here on Thursday, demanding a rollback of the notifications that cancelled 22 exams and ordered a probe into 23 others over alleged irregularities.
They staged the demonstration outside the state secretariat, claiming that they were recruited after clearing the examinations fair and square.
The government’s orders came amid a 25-day students’ agitation over alleged irregularities in the recruitment exams.
“Around 2,700 people, including about 2,000 recruited through the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) examination, held the protest, demanding revocation of the orders,” a demonstrator said.
Some of the protesters filed petitions before the Jharkhand High Court challenging the government’s decision.
The demonstrators had also held protests on Wednesday, with some entering the Jharkhand Secretariat premises, violating a prohibitory order.
Maintaining that they were not opposed to an investigation into alleged irregularities, the protesters objected to the cancellation of the entire examination.
They argued that action should be taken against tainted candidates and not against those selected on merit.
Chandan Kumar Sahu, who is a food safety officer with the government, said, “No complaints have so far been received about any irregularities in exams for food safety officers. But we are being thrown out. This is not justice. We will continue our protest till justice is meted out to us.”
Another candidate, Anima Vibha Minz, said they cleared the examination based on merit.
The candidates said several of them had already joined government departments, including finance, home, road transport, labour, and information and public relations.
Meanwhile, the functioning of several government departments was impacted due to the demonstration.
On Wednesday, agitating students suspended their 26-day protest and gave a 2-month ultimatum to the state government to resolve issues related to the alleged exam irregularities.
