The Jharkhand hunger strike led by student activists in Ranchi has ended after 16 days. Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s government agreed to cancel two disputed recruitment exams. Student leaders called it a big win for job aspirants across the state.
Devendra Nath Mahto, Umme Habiba, and Rahul Kranti ended their hunger strikes late on Monday night. Mahto ended his strike at Sadar Hospital in Ranchi, where state ministers Dipika Pandey Singh and Irfan Ansari were present. The ministers offered him juice to mark the formal end of the protest.
The agitation began weeks earlier over alleged flaws in state recruitment exams. Aspirants accused the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission of allowing paper leaks. Anger grew as more candidates joined the sit-in outside the commission’s office. The Jharkhand hunger strike soon became the loudest symbol of that anger.
Mahto later thanked the government for hearing the students out. “This is a huge win for every young person in Jharkhand,” he said. He also promised his broader fight for exam reform would continue.
Scenes of celebration followed the announcement outside the protest site. Aspirants hugged each other and distributed sweets late into the night. Many had travelled from far-off districts to join the sit-in. For them, the end of the Jharkhand hunger strike felt personal and hard-won.
The scale of the agitation had grown steadily through early August. Thousands of aspirants marched toward the Jharkhand Assembly on August 10. Police were deployed heavily that day to manage the large crowd. Officers said peaceful protesters would face no restrictions during the march.
A Long-Running Row Over Paper Leaks
This is not the first controversy tied to the JSSC-CGL exam. The exam faced a paper leak complaint back in 2024 too. That earlier row forced officials to cancel one shift of questions. Trust in the commission never fully recovered after that episode.
Jharkhand had already passed a law against exam malpractice before this row. Yet candidates said enforcement stayed weak on the ground. The Jharkhand hunger strike this month reflected years of pent-up frustration. Students wanted visible action, not just fresh rules on paper.
Jharkhand Hunger Strike Pushes Government to Accept Key Demands
Soren’s Cabinet met on Monday and took several major decisions at once. It cancelled the JSSC-CGL exam, a top demand of the protesters. The Cabinet also scrapped all exams, results and selections linked to outsourced agency TDPL. Officials confirmed the 14th JPSC exam will also stand cancelled. Pending backlog assessments tied to the same row face cancellation too. These moves directly answered the protesters’ core grievances.
The government will now send the matter to the Enforcement Directorate. Officials suspect money changed hands improperly during the exam scandal. A separate CID probe will also study exams held since 2014. This inquiry will run under close judicial watch, officials said.
Soren pointed to simple lapses in following existing rules. “There is already an SOP for conducting examinations,” he told reporters. He said irregularities would not have happened had staff followed it. Poor oversight, not a policy gap, caused the mess, he added.
Twenty people have been held so far over the scandal. Former JPSC chairman L Khiangte is among those now in custody. He was arrested on August 10, a day after all three JPSC members quit. The state has also formed a fresh exam reforms panel. Senior IAS officer Amitabh Kaushal will lead this new group.
Rahul Gandhi’s Letter Added Pressure
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wrote to Soren on August 14. He urged the chief minister to meet the protesting students in person. Congress made this letter public only on August 17, days later.
Gandhi called the protests peaceful throughout his letter to Soren. He said the students’ demands were fair and needed quick action. Gandhi also welcomed the state’s move to start talks with protesters.
Congress remains an ally of Soren’s party in the ruling alliance in Jharkhand. Yet some protesters had reportedly burnt effigies of both leaders earlier. This showed anger over how slow the response had felt. Gandhi’s letter arrived just before the government’s final decision on Monday.
Political watchers say the letter added real pressure on the state. It also placed Congress firmly on record backing the students. That stance may matter more if remaining grievances stay unresolved.
Some Demands Still Remain Unresolved
Habiba raised fresh demands even as her fast formally ended. She called for the withdrawal of every FIR filed against protesters. All pending legal action against named agitators must also stop, she said.
She sought the reinstatement of a suspended civic official, Santosh Mastana. Habiba also asked for formal closure of CID Case Number 025. These points sit outside Monday’s official announcement from the state.
Officials have not yet shared a timeline for these remaining demands. Protest organisers say they will track the government’s next moves closely. The wider reform push, meanwhile, has already begun in earnest.
The state is also weighing a central law on exam malpractice. Parliament passed the Public Examinations Prevention of Unfair Means Bill in July. That law allows up to ten years in jail for organised cheating. Officials have not confirmed if Jharkhand will formally adopt it yet.
What Happens After the Jharkhand Hunger Strike?
The CID probe into exams since 2014 will take real time. Investigators must sift through years of records across many exam cycles. The reforms panel under Amitabh Kaushal will also submit fresh ideas soon.
Job aspirants will watch the ED probe closely in coming weeks. Quick action on the leftover demands could help rebuild public trust. Continued delay, however, risks reviving anger that just cooled down.
For now, the end of the Jharkhand hunger strike marks real progress. It remains, though, only a partial win for the state’s aspirants. Their larger fight for a clean, fair exam system goes on. Whether Monday’s promises turn into lasting reform will decide what comes next.
Source: Hindu
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