Students protesting against the 70th Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination broke through police barricades while marching from Gandhi Maidan towards Raj Bhavan in Patna on Tuesday.
The protesters are demanding the cancellation of the 70th BPSC examination.
The protesters tried to move towards the restricted area despite police barricading the route. The demonstration comes amid continued concerns raised by students over the conduct of the 70th BPSC examination.
DSP Kamakhya Narayan Singh said police would stop the protesters if they attempted to move further, but expressed hope that the ongoing dialogue with senior officials would help resolve the situation.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Singh said, “We will stop them; we won’t let them proceed further. However, the dialogue has been positive, and we hope the students will agree. They have raised several issues with the senior officials, and the outcome has been positive. So, I expect the turnout to be lower and that they will agree. If they don’t, we will stop them right here. We won’t allow them to enter the restricted area.”
At the protest site, Congress leader Sushil Kumar said the protesters were also demanding changes to the Teacher Recruitment Examination (TRE) 4.0 and action on issues concerning the BPSC, Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) and Sub-Inspector recruitment.
“We want to state clearly that a single-stage examination must be implemented for TRE 4.0 at all costs, and negative marking should be abolished. There are numerous other issues as well, regarding the BPSC, BSSC, Sub-Inspector recruitment. The government has offered no assurances on any of these points,” Kumar told ANI.
He said the protesters had urged the Chief Minister to hold talks with their delegation. Kumar added that they had been on a hunger strike for nine days and claimed that the situation could have been avoided if the government had engaged in dialogue.
“We are heading towards the Chief Minister’s residence; the Chief Minister should hold talks, and our delegation will go there for the discussion,” he said.
The students have been protesting over alleged irregularities and paper leaks in the 70th BPSC examination and are demanding its cancellation.
The agitation has also focused on the proposed Teacher Recruitment Examination-Fourth Phase (TRE-4), with students opposing the proposal to conduct the exam in two phases across Bihar. They are also demanding the release of the official TRE-4 advertisement.
Meanwhile, Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav wrote to Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary over the ongoing BPSC row. He urged the government not to ignore the protesters’ demands and called for constructive dialogue to find an immediate solution.
In his letter, Yadav called for TRE-4 to be conducted as a single examination. He also demanded an immediate end to what he described as discrimination against Hindi-speaking candidates in the BPSC Civil Services Main Examination and interview.
Yadav further called for complete transparency in all competitive examinations, including those conducted by the Sub-Inspector recruitment board, Constable recruitment, BSSC and BPSC.
He also sought a high-level independent inquiry into past examinations and strict action against recruitment mafias.
The RJD leader also urged the state government to announce time-bound schedules for all pending examinations, including BSSC Intermediate, CGL, ASO, BSO, Librarian and Accountant recruitment exams.
Bureau Report
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