Protesters in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand defied police batons, tear gas, barricades and water cannons as they marched to the state legislature on Monday, demanding investigations into alleged irregularities over qualifying exams for government jobs.
Television footage showed some protesters breaking police barriers and police personnel using batons, water cannons and tear gas to disperse crowds. The scenes evoked days of protests in New Delhi, the nation’s capital in July, when thousands of demonstrators marched to Parliament to demand the resignation of India’s education minister, only to face a severe crackdown by security forces on July 20 that led to allegations of police brutality.
The march in Jharkhand, one of India’s poorest states, follows more than two weeks of protests by young people there who had demanded the cancellation of three recruitment exams for state civil services. The protesters claim that there were grading errors and financial irregularities, calling for an investigation by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, the top federal investigative agency, and a broader overhaul of the state’s recruitment system.
On Sunday, the Jharkhand government — led by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha in alliance with the Congress and other parties — agreed to some of the students’ demands, including canceling the recruitment exams and setting up fast-track courts to speed up investigations. The head of the Jharkhand Public Services Commission and its members also resigned.
But student delegations were not satisfied and continued to demand a federal investigation. They said they would continue to protest.
At a news briefing on Sunday, Sudivya Kumar, the state’s minister for higher and technical education, said that following three days of talks, the government’s moves had failed to dissuade the students from their “proposed agitation” on Monday. “Unfortunately, despite these extensive efforts, the students remained unconvinced,” he said.
Student protests over the leaks of exam papers and poor employment prospects have been growing in recent months. Nationwide demonstrations were fueled by the scrapping of test results of India’s medical college-entrance exam test in May because of a leak. Often, students spend years studying for entrance exams that are canceled because question papers leak, or take on loans to put themselves through exam prep courses, only to find a job market with poor prospects.
Many students have blamed the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which governs the nation along with a coalition of other parties, for the ills of India’s education system. However, test paper leaks and other problems have long been a problem in various states and also predate the Modi government, which has been in power since 2014.
Protests continued on Monday evening.
Hari Kumar contributed reporting.
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