‘In complete solidarity’: CJP backs Jharkhand students as talks with government fail to end protest

New Delhi: Cockroach Janta Party spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka on Saturday said the organisation stood in “complete solidarity” with students protesting alleged paper leaks in Jharkhand recruitment examinations.

A CJP delegation led by Mukesh and Akshay Shinde arrived in Jharkhand to meet the protesters and extend “all forms of support” to them, Ranka said.

The development came as the Jharkhand government held talks with several student organisations to resolve the agitation. However, the discussions failed to break the deadlock. The protesting aspirants said they would continue their stir until the government accepted all their demands.

Government holds talks

A five-member government panel, which included state ministers, first met protesters led by Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha leader Devendra Nath Mahto. His fast over the recruitment examination issue entered its seventh day. The panel later held separate meetings with delegations from the Congress-backed National Students’ Union of India, Adivasi Chatra Sangh and Jharkhand Chhatra Morcha.

The government had also held talks with a delegation from the JPSC/JSSC Reforms Manch on Friday night.”Demands of protesting aspirants are genuine; we will place these before Chief Minister Hemant Soren,” state minister Sanjay Prasad Yadav, a member of the government panel, said after the meetings.

Groups submit demands

The Jharkhand Chhatra Morcha, the student wing of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, submitted five demands. These included the cancellation of the 14th Jharkhand Public Service Commission Civil Services Examination. NSUI presented six demands. Its spokesperson Sanjiv Shah said the organisation sought a CID investigation within 90 days into all JPSC and JSSC examinations under suspicion.

It also demanded the creation of a Jharkhand Testing Agency on the lines of the National Testing Agency. Adivasi Chatra Sangh leader Kartik Oraon said, “We demanded inclusion of tribal and regional languages as qualifying papers in the recruitment examinations, besides cancellation of the tests in which irregularities were found..

Protest to continue

The government panel’s first meeting with the JPSC JSSC Candidates’ Forum, led by Mahto, lasted about two hours. “The government assured us of a quick decision to resolve the issues raised by us. However, our protests will continue until all our demands, including cancellation of the 14th JPSC exam, are met,” a forum leader said.