RANCHI: Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar on Sunday accepted the resignations of Ajita Bhattacharya, Anima Hansda and Jamal Ahmed as members of the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC), following a recommendation from the state government.The development comes amid ongoing protests by aspirants over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC), according to news agency ANI.Earlier in the day, representatives of the Jharkhand government held a fresh round of talks in Ranchi with representatives of various student organisations protesting the alleged irregularities.Following the meeting, the state government announced a multi-pronged action plan to address the concerns raised by the aspirants.The measures include a CID probe into alleged irregularities in the 14th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and 2023-25 backlog recruitments, an Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation into suspected financial irregularities, the establishment of a fast-track court and the formation of an expert committee to recommend recruitment reforms.Jharkhand Minister Sudivya Kumar Sonu announced the action plan amid intense protests by JPSC and JSSC aspirants.He said the criminal aspects of the alleged irregularities would be investigated by the CID, while the government would also seek an ED investigation into the financial aspects of the matter.“Criminal aspects will be investigated by the CID; furthermore, given the financial implications and evidence of illicit financial transactions, a request will be made for an ED investigation,” the minister said.Sonu further said that a fast-track court would be constituted after the investigation and charge sheets against those found guilty would be filed within 90 days.“Subsequently, a fast-track court will be constituted, and charge sheets against the accused will be filed within 90 days,” he said.On demands for reforms in the recruitment process, the minister said the government had agreed to constitute an expert committee comprising representatives from IIT-ISM, IIM Ranchi and XLRI.However, he said the students continued to demand the cancellation of the Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examination conducted after 2019, a demand the government could not accept.According to Sonu, the state government made it clear that it could not unilaterally cancel the examination as it had been conducted under the directions of the High Court and the Supreme Court and was currently under judicial monitoring.He said the government had instead proposed a monitoring committee headed by a retired judge to address the students’ concerns.“The government offered to oversee the investigation by constituting a monitoring committee headed by a retired judge; however, the students refused to accept this proposal,” he said.Sonu said the government had accepted most of the demands raised by the protesting students, according to news agency ANI.“We believe the government agreed to 98 per cent of the points raised. The remaining two per cent-specifically the demand to cancel the CGL exam-could not be met because the government cannot unilaterally cancel an exam conducted under court orders, where results have been published, and successful candidates are already employed,” Sonu said.He added that the proposed monitoring committee was intended to instil confidence among students and ensure their concerns were considered during the investigation.The minister said the government had made efforts to address the concerns of the aspirants and bring the agitation to an end.The decision was taken after three days of discussions and extensive consultations with the aspirants, following instructions from Chief Minister Hemant Soren.The protesters gathered at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium in Ranchi have demanded the cancellation of all JSSC CGL, JSSC JE and PGT examinations conducted after 2019, a CBI investigation into the alleged irregularities, strict action against the “mafias and agencies involved”, disclosure of category-wise cut-offs (UR, EWS, BC-I, BC-II, SC and ST), OMR copies and response sheets to ensure transparency, and a recruitment calendar modelled on UPSC and SSC standards.
