RANCHI: A large group of government employees appointed through the JSSC-CGL recruitment process staged a protest in Ranchi after the Jharkhand government cancelled the examination, with protesters sitting on the ground outside the main entrance of the state secretariat and raising slogans in unison.Videos of protesters are viral all over social media, they can be seen gathered outside the entrance, sitting together on the ground and raising synchronized slogans as they demand the government reconsider its decision and address their grievances.The protest followed the state government’s decision to cancel the JSSC-CGL examination, one of the key demands of students who have been agitating over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations.The government announced the cancellation at a special cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Hemant Soren. It also decided to cancel all recruitment tests conducted by outsourced agency TSR Data Processing Pvt Ltd (TDPL) since 2014.Employees who had already cleared the JSSC-CGL examination and secured government jobs, however, opposed the cancellation. They have said the decision could affect around 2,000 appointed candidates.The protesters questioned why candidates who had already been appointed should bear the consequences of alleged irregularities in the recruitment process.The government has said it took the decision after considering concerns raised by protesting students. Jharkhand CID has also been investigating alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations.Student leader Devendra Nath Mahto, who had been on a 16-day hunger strike, ended his fast after the cancellation was announced.The government has also announced measures aimed at making recruitment examinations more transparent, including a time-bound annual examination calendar, technology-secured exams, timely publication of answer keys and OMR sheets, and multi-level accountability.However, the appointed employees have continued their protest, demanding that their concerns also be heard.
