After 26 days of protests over alleged irregularities in Jharkhand’s competitive examinations, both factions of the movement officially called off their agitation on Wednesday — a development that follows the state government’s decision to cancel the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level (JSSC CGL) examination and meet other key demands.

Chandan Rajak, spokesperson for the JPSC JSSC Abhyarthi Nyay Manch, said the organisation had officially ended the protest and was removing the arrangements from the protest site. “Our main demands have been fulfilled. After the announcement of the cancellation of the JSSC CGL examination, our leader, Devendra Mahato, and other students also ended their hunger strike after having some juice. We have therefore decided not to continue the protest,” he said.

However, he said the agitation over the Post Graduate Teacher (PGT) recruitment examination is set to continue. The recruitment process, for around 3,120 posts, was conducted through computer-based tests between August 18 and September 8, 2023.

Rajak said the alleged irregularities in the examination raised questions over the role of the private agency involved in conducting it.

“The involvement of accused Abhay Tiwari, who was earlier associated with this examination only. The PGT protesters are expected to continue their agitation separately over these demands,” he said.

Asked about the demand for a CBI inquiry into the alleged examination irregularities, Rajak said evasively: “The organisation currently has no further demands”.

The second faction, the JPSC JSSC Reform Manch, also held a press conference in the evening and formally announced the end of its protest. Protesters on hunger strike also ended their fasts.

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The student agitation began in Ranchi on July 25, seeking action over alleged irregularities in various examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC).

On Monday, Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced the cancellation of the JSSC CGL examination — the last of the major demands from the protesters. This came days after the government cancelled the 14th JPSC preliminary examination and the 2023 and 2025 JPSC backlog examinations, and also announced a judicial inquiry, a fast-track mechanism for examination-related cases and an Enforcement Directorate probe into alleged financial irregularities.

Meanwhile, a separate protest has been underway outside Project Bhavan, the state secretariat, since Monday. Employees who had already secured government jobs through the JSSC CGL examination are opposing its cancellation and demanding that their appointments not be affected.