In Jharkhand, state civil service aspirants intensify protests for exam results

The preliminary exam was conducted in March last year, with nearly 3.5 lakh candidates appearing. The results were declared the following month, and 7,011 candidates qualified for the mains held in June. The notification had stated that the mains results would be declared in August that year, followed by the interview process.

But the results were never released. Meanwhile, then JPSC chairperson, Mary Neelima Kerketta, retired in August last year and the position remained vacant until February this year, when L. Khiante, the former chief secretary of Jharkhand, was appointed the new JPSC chairperson.

As the protest continued, several students reportedly fell ill due to heatstroke and had to be rushed to nearby hospitals.

Satyanarayan Shukla, president of the Jharkhand State Student Association (JSSA) who has been preparing for the exam for the last five years, said the students are under severe stress and uncertainty.

“It has been 10 months since the exam was conducted, and there has been no indication from the JPSC about the results. The students are already struggling mentally and emotionally — now it’s becoming a physical battle as well. We were told the results would be released after the appointment of the new chairperson. Later, the chief minister assured us he would act on the issue after returning from his foreign visit in April. But nothing has happened yet. The delay has forced us to take to the streets,” he said.

Echoing these sentiments, Arun Agrawal, a senior JPSC faculty member at a local coaching centre, said: “The students are going through a very difficult time. They’ve been waiting for over ten months for just 340 vacancies, which is a very small number compared to the huge number of applicants”.