The candidates rejected in the fifth civil services examination conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) went on fast unto death in front of JPSC office at Circular Road here on Thursday.
The protesting candidates are demanding that the rejected copies of mains examinations should be accepted and the interview round of the examination should be postponed on grounds of rampant discrepancies in the test.
“No public service commission in rest of the country rejects copies of mains examination, as the answers are subjective and are manually checked by examiners. It is a scam to disqualify deserving students. We will not move from here until our demands are met,” stated a protesting candidate demanding anonymity.
Copies of 618 students were rejected on account of violation of confidentiality as the copies submitted in the mains were not properly sealed as required by the guidelines. “The copies of the mains examinations are to be sealed with a sticker, as per the rules. But the examinations were delayed and the stickers we received had no glue left in them. Following this, our copies were rejected citing reasons like the stickers were not stuck properly or some were stuck using adhesive,” informed another protesting candidate.
The rejected candidates, who constitute 30 per cent of the candidates who appeared in the mains examination, took the matter to Chief Minister and Governor but in vain. “We were assured of appropriate action by the Governor. Whereas, we were told by CM office that an enquiry will be conducted in the matter, but nothing has happened so far,” said one of the protesting candidates.
The list of discrepancies extends further, if the protesting examinees are to be believed. “The interview for those appearing in the fifth civil services was to be held in December, but the date was advanced to November without any concrete reasons. Moreover, the candidates who qualified the mains have roll numbers in numerical sequence. All this is definitely worth looking into,” added the examinee.
More than 100 protestors will always be present in front of JPSC offices to continue their protests. The agitators were even accompanied by Silli MlA Amit Mahto on the first day of their indefinite hunger strike – who left them with promises of involving the top brass of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and opposition in Jharkhand State Assembly in their protests, informed the anonymous examinee.
The issue will be taken up prominently by the opposition and we expect our protest to get a shot in the arm from this political intervention, he added.