A fierce face-off took place between protesting students and police in Patna on Tuesday as the students marched from Gandhi Maidan towards Raj Bhavan, demanding the cancellation of the 70th Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) examination.
According to reports, the protesters attempted to enter a restricted area despite repeated warnings from the police. As tensions escalated, police detained several students. Videos from the protest site showed agitating students breaking through police barricades while attempting to move towards the Bihar Chief Minister’s residence. Police used water cannons to disperse the protesters and repeatedly warned them that they would not be allowed to proceed further.
DSP Gamakhaya Narayan Singh said discussions with senior officials had been positive and expressed hope that the students would call off their march.
The protesting students are demanding the cancellation of the 70th BPSC examination, alleging irregularities and a paper leak. They are also seeking changes to the proposed Teacher Recruitment Examination (TRE-4), including the introduction of a single-stage examination and the removal of negative marking.
The protesters are also opposing the proposal to conduct TRE-4 in two phases across Bihar and have demanded the release of the official recruitment notification.
Student leader Saurav Kumar said the talks with the government had been “positive”, but maintained that the protesters would continue their agitation over their demands, including the conduct of a single examination.
“We want to meet Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary because the government keeps making us hold talks with junior officials, after which the matter is closed. If we are given an opportunity for talks with the Chief Minister and an official notice is issued, we are ready to end our protest,” a student leader said during Tuesday’s protest.
Meanwhile, Bihar opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav urged the state government to hold talks with the protesting students and address their concerns. He supported the demand for TRE-4 to be conducted as a single examination and also raised concerns over what he described as discrimination against Hindi-speaking candidates in the BPSC civil services Main examination and interview process.
Amid the ongoing protests, the Bihar government on Tuesday announced the launch of Vidyarthi Sahyog Shivir, a campaign aimed at addressing students’ grievances.
“The Bihar government is launching Vidyarthi Sahyog Shivir starting today to ensure prompt resolution of students’ grievances. These camps will be organised at educational institutions on the fourth Tuesday of every month,” Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said in a social media post.