Patna. The demonstration of students became vigorous in Patna on Tuesday demanding the cancellation of the 70th Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination. The protesters marching from Gandhi Maidan towards Raj Bhavan broke police barricades on the way and started moving towards the restricted area. Seeing the situation, the police tightened the security arrangements and deployed a large number of forces to stop the protesters from moving forward.
The protesters broke the barricades and moved ahead.
After the march started from Gandhi Maidan, the students started moving towards Raj Bhavan. The police had put up barricades to prevent entry into the restricted area, but the protesters broke them. After this, the police and administration increased security at the spot.
The students are demanding an investigation into the allegations of alleged irregularities and paper leaks in the 70th BPSC examination and cancellation of the examination and re-conducting it.
DSP said- Will not be allowed to go into the restricted area-
DSP Kamakhya Narayan Singh said that if the protesters try to move forward, the police will stop them. He said that the talks between senior officials and student representatives have been positive and it is expected that the students will listen to the administration.
He said that the students have put forward many of their demands before the authorities and there is hope for a solution after talks. However, he clarified that the protesters will not be able to enter the restricted area.
Demand to end single stage examination and negative marking in TRE-4-
Congress leader Sushil Kumar said that the students' agitation is not limited to only the 70th BPSC exam. Candidates also want solution to the issues related to TRE-4.0, BPSC, BSSC and Sub-Inspector Recruitment.
He demanded that the TRE-4.0 examination should be conducted in a single stage and negative marking should be abolished. They allege that no concrete assurance has been received from the government on these demands yet.
Sushil Kumar appealed to the Chief Minister to call the students' delegation for talks. He claimed that many students were on hunger strike for the last nine days and their problems needed immediate attention.
Students adamant on cancellation of 70th BPSC exam-
Students in Bihar are continuously agitating demanding the cancellation of 70th BPSC exam. The protesters allege that there were serious irregularities in the examination and cases related to paper leaks also came to light. The students are demanding an independent investigation into the entire matter.
Apart from this, students have also objected to the proposal to conduct the TRE-4 examination in two phases. They are demanding release of official advertisement of TRE-4 and clarification on the examination process.
Tejashwi Yadav wrote a letter to Deputy CM-
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav wrote a letter to Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary regarding the BPSC dispute. He appealed to the government to take the demands of the agitating students seriously and find an immediate solution by holding positive talks with them.
Tejashwi Yadav demanded to conduct the TRE-4 examination in a single phase. Also raised the demand to end alleged discrimination against Hindi speaking candidates in BPSC Civil Services Main Examination and Interview.
Demand for transparency in all recruitment examinations-
Tejashwi Yadav demanded to ensure transparency in all competitive examinations including BPSC, BSSC, Sub-Inspector and Constable. He demanded an independent and high-level investigation into the alleged irregularities in the previous examinations and strict action against the culprits.
He also demanded early disposal of pending cases related to recruitment examinations and strict action against the alleged recruitment mafia.
Demand to release calendar of pending examinations-
Tejashwi Yadav demanded the government to release the examination calendar with time bound dates of all pending recruitment examinations. These include many exams including BSSC Intermediate, CGL, ASO, BSO, Librarian and Accountant.
At present, security arrangements are tight in Patna in view of the students' protest. The police are stopping the protesters from entering the restricted area, while the students are adamant on demanding direct talks with the government regarding their demands.