Ranchi:
The sixth round of talks is currently underway between the Jharkhand government’s representatives and the students protesting over alleged exam irregularities. The meeting is being held at a state guesthouse in Ranchi. The members of the Left-backed AISA outfit are reportedly taking part in the discussions.
The previous five rounds yielded no solution to the stalemate after two weeks of intense protests, but a Jharkhand minister said that the students’ concerns were valid.
State minister Dipika Pandey Singh said earlier that Chief Minister Hemant Soren had been apprised of the demands and the views that came out of their talks with the students.
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During their meeting with Soren yesterday, it was decided that further talks would be held with the students, another minister, Sanjay Prasad Yadav, has said.
The students’ protest at Ranchi’s Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium has entered its 16th day. Their demands include the scrapping of the 14th Civil Services Preliminary Examination conducted on July 2 by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC).
They are also demanding an independent probe, either by the CBI or a panel led by a retired judge, into the alleged exam irregularities.
Congress Chief Backs Students
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has thrown his weight behind the students and said he and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi would visit wherever students raise issues.
“We have decided that if a chief minister belongs to our party or an alliance party, we will tell them that things need to be set right. The interests of our children are paramount, who stands with us and who doesn’t is not the priority,” he said.
“Whether they are from Jharkhand, or Prayagraj, or the people who came to Jantar Mantar, or Bombay, or Kota; students are the same for us, they are important. Rahul Gandhi has raised this issue, and he will go there too,” the Congress president added.
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Rahul Gandhi has also backed the students and said that all governments, be it at centre or in Jharkhand, must listen to the students and take action to change the education system.
Gandhi is trying to take political mileage out of the issue and should direct the Congress government in Jharkhand to take immediate action, BJP leader and Union Minister Sanjay Seth told NDTV. He further called the students’ demands genuine and accused the Soren government of being insensitive.
“The Jharkhand government has patronised the job scam. Nothing less than a CBI or ED enquiry is acceptable to the agitating students. The Congress should withdraw it support from the Jharkhand government,” he added.
Previous Talks In Ranchi
The Jharkhand government has so far held five rounds of talks with various protesting outfits in Ranchi. However, the deadlock continues, with the talks not yielding any result.
The students have asserted that their protest would continue until their demands are met.
The first round of talks saw government representatives meeting a group of protesters led by Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha leader Devendra Nath Mahto on Friday.
The government-appointed panel also had separate meetings with the delegations of three Congress-backed student outfits.
Another meeting was held with a delegation of JPSC-JSSC Aspirant Nyay Mach on Saturday.
Mahto, who has been on a hunger strike for a week, said that all the outfits have the same demands and the government should fulfil those.
