The other Jharkhand story: They fought odds, cleared prelims, but exam got cancelled

The notification for the examination was issued this January for 103 posts. The prelims were held on April 19, and the result was declared on July 2, with 2,204 candidates qualifying. But as allegations of irregularities emerged, the state cancelled the exam, while the CID asked those who had cleared the prelims to submit carbon copies of their OMR sheets.

According to sources, nearly 1,800 have done so. For those who cleared the exam, cancelling it meant going through the process – and all the uncertainty that comes with it – yet again.

Student-protesters outside the Jharkhand Assembly. (Express photo by Shashwat)

Quit a job for this

It was on July 22, three days before the Jharkhand Public Service Commission’s 14th Combined Civil Services Main examination was to begin, that Ajit Kumar and his wife Neha Kesari were on a train from Maharashtra, heading to Jharkhand.

They had cleared the preliminary examination and were optimistic about the mains, scheduled from July 25 to 27. For the couple, the journey was not just another trip home; it was the next step in a plan they had spent years preparing for.

Then, somewhere around Madhya Pradesh, Ajit opened WhatsApp and read a message that shocked him: the JPSC examination had run into trouble over alleged irregularities involving an OMR sheet. “At first, I didn’t believe it and went to the JPSC website to check. It clearly said the JPSC 14th mains had been postponed,” Ajit, 32, told The Indian Express.

Police personnel deploy water cannons to disperse student protesters and job aspirants attempting to breach barricades during a ‘Vidhan Sabha Gherao’ protest march towards the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly. (PTI Photo/File)

A B.Tech graduate from Hazaribagh in 2015, Ajit had moved through a series of private-sector jobs – and even started his own coaching venture – before finally deciding to prepare for competitive examinations. In 2024, he cleared the prelims but could not get through the mains. “I began preparing again and cleared the 14th JPSC prelims,” he said.

After the results were declared on July 2, Ajit quit his private-sector job in Maharashtra to focus on the mains. But the cancellation meant something bigger than merely starting from scratch – it meant the loss of another precious opportunity for the family.

“I made it to the interview stage of the 7th-10th JPSC examination but did not make it through, so this was a second chance,” Neha said. “Even travelling for this examination was expensive: due to time constraints, Ajit eventually took a flight that cost him Rs 30,000. After the exam was cancelled, dono ek doosre se silent ho gaye us din se (we’ve been silent towards each other since then).”

The couple- Ajit Keshari and his wife Neha Keshari, who cleared JPSC 14th prelims.

After the exam was cancelled, Ajit began mobilising over 200 aspirants against the decision.

The group is now holding meetings to decide its next course of action.

First in her family

For Adivasi woman Madhuri Aind, 26, clearing the JPSC exam would have meant fulfilling a dream she had fought for against all odds. Madhuri and her family scraped a living selling household items from a thela (handcart) in Ranchi, where they had moved a few years ago in search of work.

Studying for JPSC was challenging: unlike many others who took coaching, she used the few resources at her disposal, such as state libraries and the internet. The shock of the cancellation, therefore, hit her hard.

“I feel like I am becoming hopeless. I have worked so hard to reach this stage. I had already cleared the 2025 JPSC backlog and the 14th JPSC prelims. With these exams now cancelled, I don’t know how long it will take me to regain confidence.”

It’s a feeling that Anamika Tiwari, a wheelchair-bound aspirant, shares.

“For someone who is in a wheelchair and often has to depend on others, reaching this stage is extremely difficult. When such a person gathers the courage to prepare for and clear an examination of this scale, and then it gets cancelled, it becomes a massive challenge, not only physically but also mentally,” she said.

Madhuri Aind is speaking to Congress leader Irfan Ansari and explaining how the paper cancellation will impact her and her family.

‘Against natural justice’

The frustration is not limited to those who fear losing a first breakthrough; it also runs through candidates who have already spent years navigating the state’s long recruitment process. Among them is Kunal Prasad, a 31-year-old Hazaribagh resident with a master’s degree in Economics from Indira Gandhi National Open University.

This year’s prelims were Prasad’s second attempt — in his first in 2016, he cleared the prelims but could not get through the mains.

“I deliberately changed from science to the humanities so I could crack the civil services. Natural justice dictates that those who had not committed any wrongdoing should not be made to suffer for the actions of others,” he said.

Some journeys are longer than others. Among them is 38-year-old Pradeep Ram Lohra.

Lohra began preparing for government examinations after graduating in 2009. While he cleared the prelims, mains and interview of the sixth JPSC examination in 2016, the exam eventually became entangled in a legal dispute over the merit list. The Supreme Court eventually ordered a revised merit list, leaving him out and forcing him to retake the test.

For women aspirants, who already face social and personal pressures beyond the exam itself, the cancellation adds another layer of complication.

“If I fail because I was not good enough, I will accept it,” said 26-year-old Roshni Sinha. “But now it feels like my hard work will be wasted because of someone else.”

In Dumka, 31-year-old Sweta Marandi agrees. “I quit my job in January to study for the exam,” said Marandi, a former librarian. “When I saw my result, I cried. It felt like a huge achievement. Now, I have to look at other job options.”