2 min readAug 8, 2026 11:59 AM IST
The ongoing agitation over alleged irregularities in government recruitment examinations continued in Jharkhand capital even as the Hemant Soren-led government held fresh talks with the protesting students on Saturday.
The government representatives held a second rounds of talks with Devendra Nath Mahto-led faction of protester as Friday’s talks failed to offer any breakthrough. This comes as student leader Devendra Nath Mahto has been on a hunger strike for over seven days over the alleged paper leaks.
झारखंड छात्र आंदोलन JPSC-JSSC भ्रष्टाचार मुक्त भर्ती अभियान के तहत हमारा अनिश्चितकालीन सत्याग्रह आज 15वें दिन तथा भूख हड़ताल के सातवें दिन का संघर्ष शहीद निर्मल महतो के नाम समर्पित है।
शहीद निर्मल महतो ने झारखंड के अधिकार, अस्मिता और सम्मान के लिए अपना सर्वस्व न्योछावर कर दिया।… pic.twitter.com/v7nLwTiWTS— Devendra Nath Mahto (@DevendraNathMa9) August 8, 2026
The first round of discussions between a 10-member delegation of the JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch and a government panel four state ministers and a senior bureaucrat met on Friday night. Following the talks, the students decided to continue their protest and hunger strike until their demands, including the cancellation of the 14th JPSC examination.
The students have also warned that they would go ahead with their planned Vidhan Sabha march on August 10 if the government failed to fulfill their demands by Sunday.
Protester says ‘facing more health issues’
Rupesh Kumar Pal, who has been on the hunger strike for five days, said, “Day by day, we are facing more health issues. Yesterday, we were feeling somewhat better, but today we are feeling much worse.”
Speaking on the meeting with government representatives, Pal said, “It seems that the struggle we are fighting is going to continue for some more time. Yesterday, when our delegation went there, the government representatives said that they were not previously aware of the extent of the paper leak and irregularities that have taken place.”
The students have been demanding the cancellation of the Preliminary Test (PT) for the 14th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) Combined Civil Services Examination and a review of examinations conducted through TDPL agencies.