Jharkhand students protesting irregularities in the JPSC and JSSC examinations held their first round of meetings with the state government late Friday night. The Hemant Soren government had formed a panel of four ministers to speak with a delegation of 10 students.
The panel to negotiate with the students and hear their demands includes Chamra Linda (JMM), Sudibya Kumar Sonu (JMM), Deepika Pandey Singh (Congress), and Sanjay Prasad Yadav (RJD). The delegation, which arrived at the State Guest House for talks, represents the main student group leading the agitation, which is separate from Devendra Mahato’s faction. This delegation attended the meeting and presented the students’ point of view.
Student leader Ravindra Paswan said – it was a positive meeting
After the talks concluded, student leader Ravindra Paswan told the media, “This was our first meeting, and it was a very positive one. Sitting together felt like family; it was a truly positive meeting. We are confident that the government, the Chief Minister, and all the ministers will consider our demands.”
‘ If even one demand is not met… ‘
Speaking to the media before the talks, Paswan said, “The government is ready to hold talks with us. Our delegation of 10 people is currently attending the talks. I want to assure all the youth of Jharkhand through the media that our delegation is representing you and that all our demands are binding and mandatory. If even one of our demands is not met, we will not consider the talks successful and will continue this protest. We hope that today’s talks with the Chief Minister and his delegates will be successful.”
There will be talks again, until then the protest march will continue.
A core committee member said, “We met with the government. It was positive. We need reassurance. They will convey the message to the CM, and we will meet again soon. Until then, the protest march will continue. If they give us positive assurances, we may reconsider marching to the Assembly on August 10th.”
The protesters gave an ultimatum till August 10.
He said, “These are the demands of the protesting students, which, if met, will prove to be a milestone for generations to come. Right now, they have simply heard our demands and assured us that they will be met. Our protest will continue until all our demands are met. We have told the ministers that we want our demands met. They must be met before August 10th. They have said that action will be seen almost immediately. If our demands are not met, our program scheduled for August 10th will continue as planned.”
Hopefully, we will find a solution soon – Minister Deepika Pandey Singh
Meanwhile, after meeting the delegation of candidates, Jharkhand Minister Deepika Pandey Singh said, “The students have made their demands public. They explained them in detail and presented them to us. We have written demands from them on certain issues. I think we will receive them by tomorrow. We have presented their issues to the Chief Minister. We will find a solution soon.”