Delays, paper leaks and years of waiting: Jharkhand protesters tell what's really behind hunger strike

Published 9 August 2026 · india

Six protesters have been holding a hunger strike for about seven days to protest alleged irregularities and paper leaks in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission

Six protesters have been holding a hunger strike for about seven days to protest alleged irregularities and paper leaks in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) examinations. Meanwhile, thousands of students and job aspirants have gathered at Ranchi's Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium to support their cause and seek reforms in the recruitment examination system. They are demanding the cancellation of the 14th JPSC and JSSC-CGL examinations. But what's really behind this hunger strike? The Indian Express interviewed protesters to understand what prompted them to sit on an indefinite hunger strike. The protesters spoke about how they dealt with irregularities in recruitment exams and struggled to secure a government job, only to find it all in vain. One such case was of 40-year-old Rahul Kranti. He shared how repeated delays in conducting the JPSC examination pushed him beyond the prescribed age limit. Kranti is now one of the six protesters who have been on a hunger strike as part of a demonstration in Jharkhand. ‘Age eligibility becomes a barrier’ Twenty seven-year-old Unne Habiba, another protester continuing the indefinite hunger strike on the ground, also spoke about how frequent holdups in the recruitment process turned age eligibility into a barrier. Hailing from Bokaro, Unne Habiba said she completed a BA in English in 2019. She told the Indian Express that she was among the top performers in her college and also figured among the district’s top 10 students. While she was in her first year of college in 2017, Habiba began preparing for the Panchayat Secretary recruitment, for which the required qualification was Class 12. “I cleared the examination,” she was quoted as saying.

But the recruitment process dragged on. By the time it progressed, Habiba said she found that she was just a day short of the age eligibility for two posts, including the Lower Division Clerk post. “I had cleared the examination and had also cleared the Hindi typing test required for the LDC post,” she told the Indian Express. She claimed the 2017 recruitment had 3,088 vacancies across five posts. She said she scored 349 marks against a cut-off of around 322, but the delay in completing the recruitment process turned age eligibility into a barrier. “Two lists have been released, while I have been waiting for the third for around three years. After all these scams and corruption, I am not sure if my name will appear in the last list,” she said. She later moved on to other competitive examinations. Habiba began preparing for the JPSC exam in 2021 and had appeared in several exams, including the 14th JPSC. Rahul Kranti, who also claimed that he faced age-related limitations during the recruitment process, became the lead petitioner in a high court case seeking age relaxation for candidates. This February, the court ruled in favour of 264 petitioners, including Kranti. Kranti's battle with recruitment delays Kranti holds a postgraduate degree in Geography and a Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Development from IGNOU. He also earned a B.Ed, hoping to secure a government teaching job. In 2016, Kranti, a father of a si year-old girl, cleared the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission’s Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) examination. He told the Indian Express that he scored 20 marks more than the last selected candidate in the OBC category, yet never received an appointment.