‘I have ended my hunger strike, not the protest’: Devendra Mahto announces 2nd phase of Jharkhand exam stir | Ranchi News
RANCHI: JLKM leader Devendra Mahto, who ended his 16-day hunger strike after the Jharkhand government cancelled job examinations over alleged irregularities, on Tuesday announced that he would soon begin the second phase of the protest for corruption-free recruitment through JPSC and JSSC.He said the agitation would continue until the “government guarantees no paper leak or irregularities in recruitment examinations in future”, news agency PTI reported.“I have ended my hunger strike, not the protest. The agitation will continue till the government gives a guarantee that no paper leak or irregularities will take place in recruitment examinations. We will soon launch the second phase of our protest, demanding corruption-free recruitment in JPSC and JSSC examinations,” Mahto said.The second phase of the agitation will be launched under the banner of JPSC-JSSC Abhiyarthi Reform Manch, headed by Mahto, PTI reported.Mahto, who had been on hunger strike for 16 days, called it off around Monday midnight after the state government cancelled all recruitment tests, including the JSSC-CGL exam, conducted by an outsourced agency since 2014.“We demand from the government that a monitoring committee be formed for reforms. We also sought a complete audit, not just a financial audit; there should be an audit at every step,” Mahto said.He also urged the government to “enact a law if necessary to prevent practices like paper leaks and irregularities in the recruitment examinations”.Chief minister Hemant Soren on Monday said an exam reforms committee headed by senior IAS officer Amitabh Kaushal would recommend measures to strengthen the recruitment examination process.“The government has decided to cancel the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission-Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) exam, which was one of the major demands of the protesting students. We have also decided to cancel all tests conducted by the outsourced agency TSR Data Processing Pvt Ltd (TDPL) and the results published by it,” Soren said.
