Patna: Hundreds of aspirants staged a protest outside the Bihar Technical Services Commission (BTSC) office here on Tuesday, demanding the immediate release of pending recruitment results, announcement of examination dates and publication of an exam calendar. The protesters briefly locked the commission’s main gate, accusing the BTSC of causing delays in the recruitment process.The agitating candidates alleged that several recruitment drives have remained pending for months, with the commission neither announcing examination schedules nor providing a clear timeline for completing the selection process. They said the uncertainty has left thousands of job seekers anxious about their future.One of the protesting candidates, Anmol Kumar, said they had visited the commission last month, when officials assured them that the results would be released within “two to four days”. “Today again we were told that the ECG Technician result will be declared within the next two to six days, followed by the final merit list within seven days. We have been hearing the same assurances repeatedly,” he said.The candidates said the recruitment process began in April 2025. The advertisement was issued in the first week of April, while the written examination was conducted on June 26, 2025. Document verification was completed nearly two months ago, and candidates had already submitted objections to the provisional answer key. Despite the process being almost complete, the final merit list has not been released.According to the protesters, the pending recruitments include ECG technician, X-ray technician, operation theatre (OT) assistant and dresser posts, affecting nearly 3,300 candidates. They claimed that only around 900 candidates remain under consideration for the ECG technician, X-ray technician and OT assistant recruitments, making it a relatively small exercise for the commission to complete.The protesters met senior officials. Commission officer on special duty (OSD) Preeti Kumari assured them that work on the results was underway. She informed them that the ECG technician result could be released by Wednesday (July 15), while the X-ray technician result is expected by Friday (July 17). The commission has sought time until July 24 to publish the OT assistant result. Officials also indicated that the dresser recruitment result is likely to be declared in Aug.The aspirants argued that delays in recruitment are affecting public healthcare in Bihar. They claimed that govt hospitals across the state are facing an acute shortage of paramedical staff. Citing govt data, they said Bihar has 15,707 hospitals, but only nine ECG technicians, 161 X-ray technicians, 171 OT assistants and around 1,400 lab technicians are currently serving in the state health system.“The govt wants patients to receive treatment at district hospitals instead of being referred to medical colleges, but that cannot happen without trained technical staff. Doctors alone cannot perform surgeries, ECGs or X-rays. They need trained assistants and technicians,” one protester said.
