Ranchi: Hours after the Jharkhand govt notified the cancellation of 22 recruitment examinations, including the controversial Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission-Combined Graduate Level-2024 Examination, citing alleged irregularities, and brought 17 other exams under the ambit of an ongoing CID probe, Project Bhavan, the seat of govt, emerged as the epicentre of protests on Wednesday.Hundreds of youths, who lost their jobs overnight, laid siege to the high-security complex which houses the offices of chief minister Hemant Soren, his cabinet ministers, senior bureaucrats and key govt departments. Their numbers swelled through the day as agitators attempted to break through barricades, scuffled with police personnel and forced their way onto the main campus of the secretariat complex before staging a dharna.“Nyay do ya fansi do (Give us justice or give us death),” the agitators said as they sought answers from the state govt as to why nearly 2,000 fresh appointees were being punished despite no individual wrongdoing being established against them.For the second consecutive night, the agitating candidates took out a flashlight march from Project Bhavan to Hatia Chowk.The protests come in the wake of the 25-day agitation by job aspirants at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium, where job aspirants had been demanding cancellation of examinations conducted by JPSC and JSSC and a probe into the role of private agency TDPL over alleged irregularities. The sustained agitation eventually compelled the govt to act, but the decision has now triggered a backlash from those who had already secured appointments.Anil Rajak, a differently-abled candidate, who once drove an autorickshaw while preparing for the CGL exam, said, “Till yesterday we were govt employees. Today we are on the streets. If there is evidence against certain individuals, punish them. Why brand all as guilty?”Chandan Kumar, who worked as an assistant section officer in the road construction department, said, “Our fight will now be both on the streets and in the court.”Another protester added, “The Govt did not hear to our side of the story and came with sweeping orders to finish our careers. We wasted decades to prepare for exams, and many have even crossed the eligibility age. Don’t we have families?”
