‘Can’t leave without justice’: Protest brings Jharkhand’s job aspirants together

Brahmanand Mahato at Ranchi’s iconic Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium, his white shirt unchanged for four days. (Express photo by Shubham Tigga)

Mahato is one of seven people who have been on a hunger strike for the last four days as part of a wider movement for sweeping reforms in Jharkhand’s recruitment and education system, long rife with allegations of irregularities.

Jharkhand student protests: The beginning

The controversy began soon after the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) declared the preliminary examination results of the 14th Combined Civil Services Examination earlier this month. The Commission shortlisted 2,204 candidates for the Main examination against 103 vacancies, but allegations of irregularities began soon after. Around 3.5 lakh people took the exam.

At the heart of the protests, which come against the backdrop of the developments at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, are allegations of paper leaks in the exam. The Hemant Soren government has tried to act fast — 16 people have been arrested, and the Chief Minister has said they stand with the youth.

On Wednesday, Ranchi SDM Kumar Rajat and ADM Dhananjay Kumar met the protesters at the site and invited a delegation to a discussion at the CM’s residence. A delegation of protesters will meet the state government Thursday.

Devendra Mahto lies surrounded by other protesters as Leader of Opposition in Jharkhand Assembly, Babulal Marandi, speaks to them at the protest site in Ranchi, Wednesday. (PTI)

The Cockroach Janta Party has, meanwhile, expressed solidarity with the protesters, while a delegation of the Congress – an ally of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha – met Soren to seek his intervention.

Despite the state government’s overtures, anger continues to simmer among protesters.

Rise of Mahato, the leader

Among them is Mahato, who, even in the pouring rain, has refused to move. Mahato says he resigned from a contractual government job with the Central Silk Board to join the agitation.

Mohammad Shamsher Alam sitting with placards around him. (Express photo by Shubham Tigga)

A first-division student throughout his academic career, Mahato, who has a PhD in Botany, was among the 150 candidates who had cleared the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission’s (JSSC) Keetpalak (silkworm rearer) recruitment examination in 2023.

But he is one of the 30 candidates whose appointment is still in abeyance. In November 2025, these 30 candidates approached the Jharkhand High Court. The case is still being heard.

“We still don’t know why our appointment was held,” he says. “They keep making us run around but never tell us what the problem is.”

Brahmanand Kumar Mahato from Ramgarh sits beneath the statue of Olympian, writer and politician Jaipal Singh Munda. (Express photo by Shubham Tigga)

Jharkhand students gather, protest grows

The protest, led by JSSC-JPSC Bhrashtachar Mukht Abhiyan, initially began as a small gathering at Ranchi’s Bapu Vatika on June 25 to demand action over the irregularities, but has now swelled into a wider student movement, gaining support from hundreds of people, from students and political outfits to civil society groups.

The protest site is bustling with social workers and volunteers, who bring food for the protesters throughout the day.

On Wednesday, hundreds trickled in to show solidarity.

Roshan Zaheer joining protest after returning from a library. (Express photo by Shubham Tigga)

Metres away from the main entrance, 37-year-old Mohammad Shamsher Alam from Dhanbad sits cross-legged with a pile of documents spread around him – scorecards, court orders, recruitment notifications and appointment-related papers accumulated over nearly a decade.

Alam, a postgraduate in Urdu with a B.Ed., successfully appeared for the JSSC Combined Graduate Trained Teacher (TGT) Competitive Examination in 2016. The recruitment process for nearly 17,786 posts began in 2019, but over 6,000 candidates still wait. For the last 12 days, Alam, who does odd jobs to make ends meet, has been at the protest site, away from his wife and children.

Students in queues to receive food. (Express photo by Shubham Tigga)

“I came with a small bag of clothes, unsure of when I will return. Candidates who scored 50–60 marks lower than me were appointed. It’s been 10 years since I passed the examination. I got married, I have children now, and I’ve taken up private work to support my family, but I still haven’t got the job I qualified for.”

Sitting next to him is 40-year-old Anandi Kumari from Lohardaga, her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter playing beside her with a ball. The toddler is growing restless and keeps asking when they’ll go home, but Anandi, who took the same exam as Alam, is determined: it’ll only be when there’s a resolution.

“A decade has passed. I have crossed the age limit to appear for any other recruitment examination. My daughter keeps telling me, ‘Mummy, let’s go home,’ but I can’t leave until we get justice,” she says.

Anandi Kumari, 40, with her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter playing beside her with a ball. (Express photo by Shubham Tigga)

Also at the protest site is 27-year-old Roshan Zameer from Deoghar, who makes his way through the sea of protesters with a friend who has taken the 13th JPSC Mains examination.

Zameer is still in the race for a government job: a postgraduate in Political Science, he lives in a rented room in Ranchi and spends his mornings at the library and his afternoons at the protest site.

Archana Kumari distributing lunch to students. (Express photo by Shubham Tigga)

Having cleared the JPSC preliminary examination three times and written the mains twice, this year’s examination marks his third mains attempt. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the recruitment process and the ongoing controversy, Zameer remains optimistic about his own chances. “I still believe I am capable of clearing the examination,” he says. “But if the recruitment process itself is not transparent, then every serious aspirant is affected.”

The protests have also led several political leaders to the protest site. Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi, who visited the protest site Wednesday, called the demands “genuine”.

The whiteboard hangs at the entrance of the protest site to gather student signatures of support. (Express photo by Shubham Tigga)

“The government should cancel the 14th JPSC exam, and the probe should be handed over to the CBI. The CID, which is investigating the case, has been engaged to cover up the issue,” he claimed.

Soren, however, insisted his government is doing all it can: “Our government is working on this matter with complete seriousness. The agencies are conducting investigations day and night, and the culprits are being sent to jail.”

But protesters seek more concrete solutions.

At the food counter, 32-year-old Archana Kumari from Palamu is patiently serving a long queue. All morning, Archana, a law graduate and a Jharkhand civil services aspirant, has been running errands: distributing packets of khichdi and water, and helping coordinate meals for hundreds of aspirants.

Archana is exhausted, and midway through the conversation, she breaks down.

“The hardest part is seeing students who don’t even have enough money for necessities,” she says. “Some don’t know where their next meal will come from, yet they are here because they believe this fight is bigger than themselves.”