More than 2,000 government employees appointed through the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level, or JSSC-CGL, examination staged a protest outside Project Bhawan in Ranchi on Tuesday, 18 August, after the state cancelled the recruitment exam and they now face the prospect of losing jobs they had already joined.
The Hemant Soren government announced late on Monday that it would cancel the JSSC-CGL exam and all recruitment tests conducted by outsourced agency TSR Data Processing Pvt Ltd, or TDPL, since 2014, along with the results published and selections made through those processes. The government also ordered a comprehensive inquiry into recruitment irregularities from 2014 onward and constituted an examination-reform committee. The cancellation was among the central demands of a 24-day student agitation over alleged paper leaks and irregularities.
The move addressed the aspirants’ demand but created a fresh crisis. Many successful candidates had joined government service after December 2025 and were posted across departments including Finance, Home, Road Transport, Labour, and Information and Public Relations. Candidates appointed to posts such as assistant section officer, circle inspector, block supply officer, block welfare officer, labour enforcement officer, planning assistant and junior secretariat assistant said they had cleared the process, received appointments and were already performing their duties.
“Tell us our crime. Don’t throw us out,” said one of the successful candidates who camped outside the Jharkhand Secretariat, demanding a fair opportunity to defend their appointments.
The employees said they were not opposed to an investigation but wanted an individual review before any action, arguing that scrapping their appointments would amount to collective punishment for irregularities they had no role in. Several said they had left earlier stable jobs to take up these posts, and some had crossed the age limit for fresh recruitment. Both the protesting aspirants and the successful candidates are now demanding a CBI probe.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren confirmed the decision after a special Cabinet meeting on Monday. “The government has decided to cancel the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission-Combined Graduate Level (JSSC-CGL) exam, which was one of the major demands of the protesting students,” Soren said.
Higher and Technical Education Minister Sudivya Kumar said the affected candidates could seek legal recourse, while a JMM spokesperson acknowledged their anguish. Beyond the roughly 2,000 JSSC-CGL posts, calculations point to about 1,000 more jobs filled through the Jharkhand Public Service Commission also being at stake. The state CID, which has been investigating the alleged irregularities, questioned the JSSC secretary and made further arrests this week, even as protesters press for the case to move to the CBI.
