Jharkhand govt, protesting students to hold fresh talks at noon after no headway
The Jharkhand government has announced another round of talks with protesting job aspirants after a series of meetings with student groups failed to end a
The Jharkhand government has announced another round of talks with protesting job aspirants after a series of meetings with student groups failed to end a 15-day agitation over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations. The fresh meeting with student representatives is scheduled for 12 pm on Sunday. The decision came after five rounds of discussions over Friday and Saturday, including a meeting with the JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch, which has been leading the protest. Soon after the announcement, the group accused the government of "political manoeuvring" and said the move was aimed at dividing students and shifting attention from their main demands. Read Full Story On Saturday, the Hemant Soren government held four rounds of talks with different student organisations, including the Congress-backed NSUI, Jharkhand Chhatra Morcha and Adivasi Chhatra Sangh. The government had held talks with the JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch on Friday. After a four-hour meeting between the government panel and Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday evening, Rural Development Minister Dipika Pandey Singh said the panel had informed the chief minister about the demands and concerns raised by student delegations. "It was decided in the meeting with the chief minister that a final round of talks with the protesting students will take place at 12 pm on Sunday," she said.
The JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch strongly objected to the fresh engagement with other student bodies. Ravindra Paswan, a leader of the group, said the government was trying to weaken the agitation by holding talks with organisations that had "played no role in the ongoing protest." "This is political manoeuvring by the government. It is trying to create a divide among students and divert attention. But they should know that all students are united," Paswan said at a press conference at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium, where students have been protesting since July 25. He said the Manch had already placed all its demands before the five-member government panel during a detailed meeting on Friday night. The government panel, comprising ministers Dipika Pandey Singh, Sudivya Kumar, Chamra Linda and Sanjay Prasad Yadav, first met the faction of protesters led by Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha leader Devendra Nath Mahto, whose fast entered its seventh day. It later met the NSUI, ACS and JCM separately and sought their charters of demand. The JCM submitted five demands, including cancellation of the 14th JPSC Civil Services Examination. The NSUI submitted six demands, including a CID probe within 90 days into all JPSC and JSSC examinations under suspicion and the setting up of a Jharkhand Testing Agency on the lines of the Testing Agency.
The BriefWire