Stalled government jobs, cases stuck in court, exam delays: What’s behind the Ranchi fast, protest

When 40-year-old Rahul Kranti arrived at the protest site, he carried with him a decade of frustration about Jharkhand’s recruitment system. He had joined the indefinite hunger strike on Friday, expressing his belief that constant exams, court battles, and delayed recruitments had left him with no option but to protest. Among those on the protest stage, Kranti and others represented the long-standing grievances of job aspirants in the state.

From a woman who participated in her first-ever protest to a man who had endured numerous court hearings, The Indian Express interviewed those on hunger strike to understand the situation that had brought them there. Kranti, a postgraduate in Geography, had earned a Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Development from IGNOU and a B.Ed., hoping that his qualifications would boost his chances of securing a government teaching job.

He pursued government exams, with his last qualification being the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission’s Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) examination in 2016. Despite scoring 20 marks higher than the last selected candidate in the OBC category, he never received an appointment. He took his case to the Jharkhand High Court along with several other candidates, who were directed to appoint the remaining candidates within six months.

However, the state challenged the order before a division bench, leading to more delays. Six months after the court’s decision, Kranti filed a contempt petition, which remains unresolved. Additionally, he qualified for the 2024 Assistant Acharya recruitment examination, but appointments have been issued in phases rather than filling all 26,001 advertised vacancies at once.

Because the repeated delays in conducting the JPSC examination pushed him beyond the age limit, Kranti became the lead petitioner in a High Court case seeking age relaxation for candidates. The court ruled in his favor in February, allowing him to appear in the 14th JPSC examination. However, the current developments in JPSC recruitment have shattered his hopes.