RANCHI: Amid the mounting scrutiny of state recruitment examinations, the Jharkhand govt has constituted a three-member high-level committee under the chairmanship of development commissioner to review the service conditions and appointment process of officials posted in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) and recommend reforms to strengthen the recruitment system. Other members in the committee include secretaries of department of personnel and finance.According to a notification issued late on Tuesday night, that the exercise would be undertaken while maintaining the constitutional and statutory autonomy of the two recruitment bodies.The move comes in the wake of a 26-day-long protest by JPSC-JSSC aspirants at Ranchi’s Jaipal Singh Stadium, where students demanded cancellation of tainted examinations, recruitment reforms and a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in various recruitment tests, including the 14th JPSC Civil Services Examination and the JSSC-CGL examination.While the state has already ordered a CID probe into alleged irregularities in the 14th JPSC examination, investigators have gradually expanded the scope of inquiries to other recruitments as well.So far, CID has arrested around 20 persons in connection with the probe, including former JPSC chairman L Khiangte, former deputy examination controller Shweta Gupta, officials linked to testing agency TCSDPL (TDPL), and several candidates. However, student organisations have continued to press for a court-monitored CBI investigation, arguing that a wider probe is needed to uncover the full extent of alleged manipulation.On August 18, the Hemant Soren govt announced the scrapping of 22 recruitment examinations and related selection processes while ordering investigations into several others, citing concerns raised during the agitation.The Jharkhand High Court subsequently stayed portions of the govt’s cancellation orders in cases where recruitment processes had already been completed. The court, however, has not restrained CID from continuing its investigations.
