Protesters in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand have called off their 26-day agitation over alleged irregularities in government exams after the state agreed to several of their demands.
Thousands of students and job seekers had been seeking an overhaul of the state’s recruitment system, with some also going on hunger strike.
The breakthrough came after the government cancelled 22 of these exams and ordered investigations into several others. On Wednesday, student leaders said they had given the government two months to fulfil its remaining promises.
The protest site in the state capital, Ranchi, where hundreds had been camped out since late July, has since been cleared.
Before leaving, protesters held celebrations, exchanging garlands and bursting crackers.
“This marks a major victory in the struggle that Jharkhand’s students have endured,” student activist Ravindra Paswan told news agency ANI.
But protest leaders stressed that the agitation had only been suspended and could resume if the government failed to act.
One issue that had prolonged the stand-off was the students’ demand for an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India’s federal investigative agency.
The state government had resisted that demand, instead ordering its Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate alleged irregularities. Several people have been arrested during the investigation, including the head of the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC), which conducts many of these exams.
