The Jharkhand government on Monday decided to annul all examinations and related recruitment processes handled by outsourcing firm TSR Data Processing Private Limited (TDPL), marking a major breakthrough in the 24-day student agitation over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations.
The decision was taken at a special Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday evening. The move came amid mounting pressure from thousands of aspirants who have been demanding stringent action over alleged manipulation and malpractices in the state’s recruitment examination system.
The Cabinet decision also followed a letter from Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who urged Soren to personally engage with the protesting students and find a solution to their grievances.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Soren said investigations being conducted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and Crime Investigation Department (CID) had brought to light several “shocking facts”. While declining to disclose details of the probe, the Chief Minister indicated that the alleged irregularities were not confined to one examination or a single agency.
According to Soren, investigators have detected what appears to be an interconnected network involving multiple companies that handled examination-related work in Jharkhand at different points of time. He said the probe would cover examinations conducted since 2014.
The Chief Minister said the departments concerned and the CID had been instructed to undertake a detailed investigation into the alleged irregularities. As part of the Cabinet decision, the JSSC-CGL examination and all processes linked to TDPL have been cancelled.
The cancellation will extend beyond the examinations themselves to include results declared on their basis, selections made through those examinations and other associated processes, Soren said.
In another significant step, the government announced a high-level committee headed by senior IAS officer Amitabh Kaushal to suggest comprehensive reforms in the state’s examination and recruitment system. The panel will assess existing shortcomings and examine recommendations put forward by students during the agitation.
Student organisations welcomed the Cabinet decision, calling it an important achievement of their prolonged movement. However, they said two major demands — a CBI investigation into the alleged irregularities and cancellation of the 11th to 13th JPSC examinations — were yet to be addressed.
Student representatives are expected to meet shortly to decide whether the agitation should continue over these unresolved issues.
Student leader Devendra Nath Mahato said the protesters would cooperate with efforts to overhaul the system but sought concrete safeguards against paper leaks and other examination-related irregularities. He said students wanted a permanent and credible mechanism to ensure transparency and protect the integrity of future competitive examinations.
Also read: Jharkhand exam row: CID raids office as student protests continue
Follow us
