Students protesting against the 70th Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination broke through police barricades and clashed with police during a march towards Raj Bhavan from Gandhi Maidan in Patna on Tuesday.
The protesters are demanding cancellation of the 70th BPSC examination amid allegations of irregularities and paper leaks. Police had barricaded the route to prevent demonstrators from entering a restricted area.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Kamakhya Narayan Singh said police would stop protesters if they tried to move further into the restricted zone. He also said discussions between students and senior officials had been positive and expressed hope that the protesters would accept the outcome.
Students seek changes in recruitment exams
The agitation has expanded beyond the 70th BPSC examination, with students raising demands concerning other recruitment tests.
Congress leader Sushil Kumar said protesters were seeking changes to the Teacher Recruitment Examination (TRE) 4.0, along with action on issues linked to BPSC, Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) and Sub-Inspector recruitment.
“We want to state clearly that a single-stage examination must be implemented for TRE 4.0 at all costs, and negative marking should be abolished," Kumar told ANI.
He also alleged that the government had not given assurances on their demands.
“The government has offered no assurances on any of these points. We have urged the Chief Minister to hold a dialogue. He should invite our delegation for talks," Kumar said.
Kumar claimed that students had been on hunger strike for nine days.
Tejashwi Yadav seeks independent probe
Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav has urged Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary to hold talks with the protesters.
Yadav called for TRE 4 to be conducted as a single examination and sought an end to what he described as discrimination against Hindi-speaking candidates in the BPSC Civil Services Main Examination and interview.
He also demanded greater transparency in competitive examinations, an independent inquiry into past exams and strict action against alleged recruitment mafias.
Government launches student grievance camps
Amid the agitation, Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary announced the ‘Student Support Camp’ initiative for addressing students' complaints and suggestions.
The camps will be held every month on the fourth Tuesday at educational institutions. Students can also submit complaints through the ‘Student Support Portal’ and Helpline 1100 and track their status.
“Every student’s voice heard, every problem resolved–this is the resolve, this is the effort," Choudhary said.