Ranchi: The Hemant Soren-led govt on Friday held its first formal talks with protesting civil services aspirants amid weeks of demonstrations over alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations, but the students said their agitation would continue until the govt announced concrete action.The meeting came hours after chief minister Hemant Soren reiterated that he wanted to hear from students from across Jharkhand as part of broader reforms in the state’s recruitment process. A four-member ministerial delegation comprising Sudivya Kumar, Chamra Linda, Deepika Pandey Singh and Sanjay Prasad met a 10-member delegation of the JSSC-JPSC Reforms Manch.After the meeting, minister Kumar said the discussions had been positive and that the delegation would brief the CM.However, Kunal Pratap Singh, one of the key spokespersons of the manch, said the protest would continue until the govt communicated a concrete decision.“Talks seemed positive but nothing concrete has been communicated yet. We will discuss among ourselves regarding the meeting and inform the next course of action soon,” Singh said at the protest site.The manch later said in a statement, “By Aug 10, concrete decisions must be taken on all major demands related to the JPSC and JSSC and they must be met. Otherwise we will proceed with our pre-announced decision to gherao the assembly in a democratic manner on that day.”Earlier, minister Kumar told reporters at the assembly that the govt would engage only with students and ruled out talks with political representatives participating in the agitation.“The students have been protesting peacefully so far and govt also agrees with their concerns. We appeal to them to not let any political party use them. We will only speak to students.”The protest at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium entered its 14th day on Friday. The day also saw a march to the assembly by the All India Students’ Association (AISA), while protesting students have proposed another march on Monday.The protesters are demanding cancellation of the 14th JPSC civil services examination, a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities and an investigation into all previous examinations conducted by the JPSC and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC).Support for the agitation continued from political and social organisations. A delegation of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), led by Union minister Chirag Paswan’s party’s Jharkhand unit, visited the protest site to express support.State unit president Birendra Pradhan said, “All the demands of students are genuine. The govt must hand over the probe to the CBI. Our party stands firmly with the legitimate demands of students.”The controversy began after JPSC declared the preliminary results of the 14th civil services examination in July. Aspirants alleged that the results were fraught with discrepancies, claiming they did not bear the signatures of all JPSC members. They also alleged that OMR sheets had been altered and that several candidates were declared qualified despite not meeting the cut-off marks.
