RANCHI: Two days after the Jharkhand government accepted key demands of protesting students, including the cancellation of the JSSC-CGL examination, student leader Devendra Nath Mahato on Wednesday joined an ‘Aabhaar Yatra’ in Ranchi to mark what he described as a major victory for the movement.The yatra, organised by students, began at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium and proceeded towards Albert Ekka Chowk, news agency ANI reported.Mahato, one of the prominent faces of the student agitation, had observed a 16-day hunger strike during the protest.Speaking to ANI during the yatra, Mahato said the prolonged agitation and his hunger strike had resulted in action against several examinations.“Our ‘satyagraha’ continued for days and I observed a hunger strike for 16 days. As a result, the student protest saw a major victory. Action was taken on 45 exams and 22 exams were cancelled; this is a massive attack on corruption. Paper mafia and education mafia are being dismantled.”The latest development comes after the state government announced a series of decisions on recruitment examinations following the students’ prolonged agitation.The JSSC-CGL examination, one of the major demands of the protesters, was cancelled along with tests conducted by outsourced agency TSR Data Processing Pvt Ltd (TDPL) and the results published by it.The government also announced an exam reforms committee headed by senior IAS officer Amitabh Kaushal to recommend measures to strengthen the recruitment examination process.The decisions followed a 26-day student protest in Ranchi over alleged irregularities in JPSC and JSSC recruitment examinations.The students had suspended their agitation after the government cancelled 22 examinations and ordered investigations into 23 others, while giving the government two months to address their concerns.Mahato had earlier ended his 16-day hunger strike after the government’s announcement, but made it clear that ending the fast did not mean the agitation was over.He had announced a second phase of the protest demanding corruption-free recruitment through JPSC and JSSC.The student leader had also demanded a monitoring committee for reforms, a complete audit of the recruitment process and measures, including legislation if necessary, to prevent paper leaks and other irregularities in future examinations.
