Patna Police Use Water Cannons and Cane-Charge to Disperse BPSC Aspirants' Protest
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Patna, Dec 29 (NationPress) The demonstration by Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) aspirants demanding a re-evaluation of the 70th Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) escalated on Sunday in Patna. The situation has become so critical that the police had to resort to cane-charge and the deployment of water cannons.
Thousands of students assembled at Gandhi Maidan, claiming irregularities in the examination held on December 13, and subsequently marched towards JP Golambar.
A significant police presence was stationed to control the surging protests.
Prashant Kishor, the founder of Jan Suraaj, joined the demonstration, offering his unwavering support to the students and aspirants. Kishor had previously called for a "Chhatra Sansad" (Student Parliament) at Gandhi Maidan on Saturday, coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti, to deliberate on students' demands and strategize future actions.
Nonetheless, the city administration denied permission for this gathering.
The protests, now in their 10th day, are largely fueled by allegations of a paper leak at the Bapu exam centre.
Although the BPSC conducted a re-examination at that centre, the commission asserts that the irregularities were limited and do not warrant the cancellation of the entire exam.
On Friday, BPSC Examination Controller Rajesh Kumar Singh reaffirmed the commission's stance, indicating that the 70th CCE exam would remain intact under all circumstances.
He confirmed that the main examination is set to take place as scheduled in April and urged candidates to concentrate on their studies rather than pursue ongoing protests.
Singh also emphasized that the exam was conducted in a transparent manner and noted that only a minor faction of candidates is protesting, lacking substantial evidence for their claims.
Despite BPSC's claims, the protests show no signs of diminishing. Students remain steadfast in their demand for a complete cancellation of the exam.
Earlier this week, police had to use cane-charges when protesting students attempted to enter the BPSC office. While BPSC has acknowledged irregularities at the Patna centre, it insists that the exam was executed without issues at over 900 other centres across the state.
Meanwhile, the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) has announced the release of admit cards for the 70th Integrated Combined Competitive (Preliminary) Examination (CCE) 2024 re-exam.
The re-examination, scheduled for January 4, 2024, will apply solely to approximately 12,000 candidates who attended the Bapu Campus Exam Centre in Patna on December 13, 2024.
