The Jharkhand government will hold a fresh round of talks with students protesting against alleged irregularities in various recruitment examinations in the state on Monday, as the agitation entered its 24th day.
The Sub-Divisional Officer and the Additional District Magistrate (Law and Order) met the students at the protest site at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium in Ranchi on Sunday and conveyed the government's willingness to hold fresh talks.
"The protesters have been invited for talks on August 17 at 2 pm. The students have also been offered the option of participating in the discussions along with their legal adviser," an official said.
Earlier, six rounds of talks had been held between the protesters and government representatives, but none resulted in a breakthrough. The last round of talks was held on August 9.
The protest is being spearheaded by the JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch, a prominent student body. The outfit's leader, Ravindra Paswan, told reporters that the talks would be held at the State Guest House in the presence of their legal adviser.
"We will definitely attend the talks as we want to resolve the issue through dialogue. But we are firm on our two demands — a CBI probe into irregularities in recruitment examinations and the cancellation of the JSSC-CGL (Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission-Combined Graduate Level) examination," Paswan said.
Meanwhile, student leader Devendra Nath Mahato, who has been on a hunger strike for the last 15 days, called for permanent reforms in the education system to ensure that future generations do not face similar hardships.
In a post on X, Mahato expressed hope that the dialogue between the students and the government on Monday would lead to a positive outcome.
"On the 15th day of the hunger strike, the situation is extremely critical and in its final phase. Yesterday, the government called for talks. We hope that this dialogue will yield a positive outcome and bring about such reforms in the education system that the coming generations will not have to endure the pain, struggle and hardship that many young people are facing today," he said on X.
