Two cops injured, 25 students detained as Bihar protests flare

Police use water cannons to disperse protesters demanding a rollback of a proposed two-tier format for BPSC teachers’ recruitment exam, in Patna, Tuesday. (ANI)

The latest demonstration follows three weeks of intense agitation by teaching aspirants across Bihar against the introduction of a preliminary test for TRE-4, scheduled for December 2026 or January 2027, by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC).

Previous iterations —TRE-1, 2 and 3 — were conducted as single-tier competitive exams. Candidates argue that since they have already cleared the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) or State Teacher Eligibility Test (STET), adding a prelims stage imposes an unfair burden and delays recruitment.

During the march, violence broke out when someone in the crowd threw a wooden stick, injuring Patna Town Deputy Superintendent of Police (II) Kamakhya Narayan Singh and a woman constable.

The protest comes on the heels of mounting political friction over the issue. On Monday evening, the state government suspended BPSC Examination Controller Rajesh Singh after his public remark in which he used the proverb “Hathi chale bazaar, kutta bhaunke hazaar (an elephant walks while a thousand dogs bark)”, while responding to questions about the protests.

Singh later said the proverb, generally used to exhort one to stay focused on their goals while ignoring the noise, was quoted out of context.

Earlier on Tuesday, over 1,500 students, supported by 17 student organisations, marched from the JP Roundabout near Gandhi Maidan under a “CM House Gherao” call. To prevent a security breach, similar to the recent high-profile rally led by Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, police erected heavy barricades at the Dak Bungalow crossing to block their route.

‘Meeting with Chief Secretary positive’

A delegation of student representatives was subsequently escorted to meet Bihar Chief Secretary Pratyaya Amrit. “Our meeting with Chief Secretary Pratyaya Amrit was positive, and we were assured of a favourable response within a couple of days,” said student leader Aman Kumar. “We reasoned that because candidates are already CTET or STET qualified, introducing a prelims stage for TRE-4 is redundant. Since the previous three recruitment drives followed a single-exam pattern, fair play dictates that TRE-4 should maintain the same format. We also requested the removal of negative marking,” he added.

Aspirants have been staging a continuous dharna for the past 20 days at Gardanibagh, the city’s designated protest site. Their 15-point charter of demands includes scrapping negative marking, reinstating the single-exam format, and filling long-pending vacancies for music teachers and librarians.