Jharkhand govt to hold fresh talks with students on Sunday protesting job exam 'irregularities'

The talks will be held around 12 pm, the member said after the panel held a four-hour meeting with Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

The Jharkhand government will hold a sixth round of talks with students protesting the alleged exam irregularities in the state before reaching a final decision, said a member of the panel tasked with holding dialogue with the demonstrators.

The talks will be held around 12 pm, the member said after the panel held a four-hour meeting with Chief Minister Hemant Soren, appraising him about the progress achieved during the previous five rounds of dialogue with the protesters.

"We apprised the chief minister of students' views and demands that came to the fore during the meetings with delegations of student unions today and the day before.

"It was decided in the meeting with the chief minister that a final round of talks with the protesting students will take place at 12 pm on Sunday," the panel's member and Rural Development Minister Dipika Pandey Singh told PTI.

Another member, Minister Sanjay Prasad Yadav, said the meeting at the chief minister's residence decided to hold further talks with the agitators demanding comprehensive reform in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC).

Besides Singh and Yadav, Ministers Chamra Linda and Sudivya Kumar were present in the meeting.

At the heart of the job aspirants' protest is the demand for an independent probe into the alleged irregularities, either by the CBI or a panel of retired high court judges from outside the state.

The Jharkhand government has held five rounds of talks with various agitating outfits since Friday night, but failed to break the deadlock as the protesting job aspirants decided that their stir would continue until all their demands are met.

The government panel first met the faction of protesters led by Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha leader Devendra Nath Mahto, whose fast over the issue entered its seventh day.

They then held separate meetings with delegations of the Congress-backed NSUI, ACS and JCM. On Friday night, the government had held similar talks with a delegation of the JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch.

As many as 19 people have so far been arrested in connection with alleged irregularities in the JPSC examinations, while former chairperson of the panel, L Khiangte, has been questioned four times since July 28.