RANCHI: Tension prevailed outside the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) office located along the Circular Road on Sunday as 1,500 civil service aspirants assembled and formed a human chain on both sides of the road, demanding cancellation of the Mains examination, which is scheduled to begin from Monday and conclude in on February 2. The Jharkhand high court is also expected to hear the original plea of 2017, seeking cancellation of the examination on the same day.Meanwhile, JPSC officials are already set to conduct the examination, which was caught in a legal tangle for two years. An unprecedented security cover for the examination has been put in place with deployment of 10 deputy superintendent of police, 115 magistrates along with 1,000 personnel for the 58 examination centres across the city.Quick response teams deployed at all centres“Anyone found involved in obstructing the examination will be dealt with strictly,” Ranchi SSP Anish Gupta said.However, several sections of the candidates and opposition political parties are against holding of the examination. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) threatened that they will not allow the assembly proceedings, if the examination is conducted. On Sunday evening, the official twitter handle of JMM sent out two tweets in support of the protest and to cancel the examination. The tweets questioned the hurry in which JPSC had announced the Mains examination date and issuance of the admit cards. It further alleged that the examination process is rigged. “A corrupt examination system can never result in selection of able candidates,” the tweet reads and warn the government to be ready for consequences for their “nepotism”.Jharkhand Pradesh Congress committee (JPCC) chief Ajoy Kumar, who met the agitators near the JPSC office, said, “The examination is becoming the Vyapam scam of Jharkhand.”In the meantime, principal secretary (personnel and administrative reforms) K K Khandelwal said he had received no instructions from the CMO or chief secretary regarding cancellation of the examination. He said, “A few candidates had come to meet me, after which I had asked the JPSC to constitute a help desk and listen to the complaints of the candidates and address them before conducting the examination.” It is pertinent to note that chief minister Raghubar Das had told the House during the ongoing budget session that the plea to cancel the examination will be looked into. Earlier, the commission had said the HC, which was hearing the case, had not put a stay on conducting the Mains examination of state civil services and it has already completed all necessary arrangements. The commission had started issuing admit cards from January 17.Since then, widespread protests have hit the city with the aspirants alleging several irregularities in the examination process. Various student groups met cabinet ministers, the assembly Speaker and the MLAs requesting them to mount pressure on the government to call off the examination. “The foremost reason to oppose the examination is that there are 18 officers of JPC, who are directly involved in examination process, and they, too, are appearing for the same exam which leads to a conflict of interest,” Puja Oraon, who was protesting outside JPSC office, said.

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