Jharkhand Student Protest highlights: BJP calls Aug 11 Jharkhand bandh over police lathi-charge on protesting students

Jharkhand students protest highlights: After sixth round of talks with Jharkhand government failed to reach a breakthrough on Sunday, the student protesting in the state marched towards the Vidhan Sabha in Ranchi on Monday to protest against alleged irregularities in Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) examinations. Security across Ranchi was beefed ahead of to the march.Razor fencing was installed along the route to Jharkhand's vidhan sabha near Jagannath Temple in Ranchi and section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) was imposed within a 750-metre radius of the Vidhan Sabha. Most of the schools in Ranchi are closed today.Track live updates of students protest in Jharkhand in Hindi hereMeanwhile, ED filed a money laundering case to probe alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations.On Sunday, the Jharkhand government, led by Hemant Soren, and students sat for a sixth round of talks to end the protest but failed to reach a breakthrough and accused each other of not being serious about resolving the matter. The students then announced that their protest will continue.There were conflicting claims on what happened during the talks, with the state government claiming that they conceded to “98 per cent” of the students' demands while the other side insisting that it was not true.What are the Jharkhand students demanding?Among the key demands put forth by the students protesting at Ranchi's Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium are a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the state recruitment exams, cancellation of all JSSC CGL, JSSC JE and PGT examinations conducted after 2019, and reforms in the recruitment process for state government jobs.They have also demanded strict action against those guilty in exam irregularities, disclosure of category-wise cut-offs, OMR copies and response sheets, along with a recruitment calendar on the lines of UPSC and SSC.The students have claimed that their demands have not yet been met by authorities."We had categorised our demands into three sections--cancellation of exams, investigation, and reforms. The government did accept and fulfil the demands related to reforms. However, regarding our demands for cancellation--specifically the cancellation of all exams conducted by the TDPL agency, the JSSC-CGL exam, the PGT exam, the Excise exam, and all other exams involving Abhay Tiwari--the government has shown no willingness to agree," said student leader Ravindra Paswan, as quoted by news agency ANI.He also appealed students from across the state to join today's march and said that the march will remain peaceful."If any anti-social element or unruly individual attempts to weaken or incite violence within our movement, we students will firmly oppose them and hand them over to the police," he said.