Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], August 19 (ANI): Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission-Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) qualified candidates held a demonstration outside Project Bhawan on Wednesday to protest the state administration's choice to scrap the test results.
Speaking to ANI, the protestors expressed frustration over the cancellation of 44 exams and warned that they would further approach the court to fight the order.
"This isn't natural justice. Put us in the dock of an inquiry; prove it to us. You can't just remove us like this. This is a total 'arbitrary decree.' The government must take it back. If they don't, we will go to Court. We will use every tactic to get [our jobs] back. We didn't get these jobs as 'charity'; we got them through a Court order. Some of us left other jobs, some couldn't go for other document verifications because they had this job. We came based on the judgment that if we are clean, we stay. You cannot weigh everyone with the same scale," the protester said.
Another protester standing outside Project Bhawan said, "We have been barred from the very offices where we were working until yesterday. The government made this decision under pressure from a mob; do what you must, but do not commit such an injustice against us. The government's decree is arbitrary and ill-conceived, issued under mob pressure. We were appointed following a Supreme Court order, and now the courts are our only recourse for justice," the protestor added.
Speaking to ANI, BJP MP Deepak Prakash weighed in on the widespread cancellation of recruitment tests due to alleged irregularities and stated that students are pressing for a federal investigation to uncover broader connections.
"Students are demanding a CBI inquiry to ensure the big fish are caught...students are currently staging hunger strikes and protests, yet the government's intentions remain unclear, implying that government representatives and leaders from the ruling party could be implicated...nevertheless, the government will eventually have to yiel," BJP MP Deepak Prakash said.
This statement follows the Jharkhand government issuing a list of 44 recruitment examinations conducted by JPSC and JSSC that have been cancelled after complaints of irregularities and CID/SIT investigations into the matter. The government announced several measures to address irregularities in recruitment examinations.
Even as the Jharkhand government's notification cancelling 44 recruitment exams brought relief to protesters, uncertainty over the proposed judicial inquiry has left the agitating students' leaders withholding a final call over the continuation of the protest.
The protesters' core committee is set to meet today to decide whether the protest will continue on its 26th day on Wednesday.
The government said the cancelled exams included those conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and the outsourced agency TSR Data Processing Private Limited (TDPL) since 2014.
After the notification, student leader Ravindra Paswan said the details of the judicial inquiry promised by the government were still unclear, and that the core committee would take up the matter before announcing its decision.
"Today marks the 26th day of our protest, and yesterday, the government issued a notification regarding the cancellation of the exam. We have reviewed it, and our core committee is scheduled to meet at 10 AM today. We will announce our future course of action after that meeting. The details regarding the judicial inquiry mentioned in the government's notification are not entirely clear, but we will discuss them during today's core committee meeting," Paswan told ANI.
A committee will be constituted under the chairmanship of Amitabh Kaushal, IAS, to conduct a comprehensive study on examination reforms within the JPSC and JSSC," it said.
The committee will include other officials and the director of a reputed institution and will submit its report to the government within two months.
The cancelled examinations include recruitment tests for drug inspectors, assistant professors, deputy collectors, dental doctors, assistant engineers, civil judges, additional public prosecutors, and forest range officers, among others. (ANI)
"Total arbitrary decree:" JSSC-CGL qualified candidates vow to approach court after exam cancellation order
