E-Paper
Barricades broken, water cannons used: Bihar protests turn violent as protesters clash with cops
The student organisations have been opposing the Bihar Public Service Commission’s move to fill 33,000 teacher posts following a preliminary and main exam.
Prefer HTon Google
Student protesters demanding a single test for teacher recruitment in Bihar clashed with police on Tuesday after breaking through barricades while marching towards the governor and chief minister Samrat Choudhary’s residences in Patna.
The protests in Patna are the latest in a series of such agitations. Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests in Delhi against examination irregularities forced Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan to step down in July. Job aspirants and student unions, who had been agitating against alleged irregularities in Jharkhand recruitment exams for nearly a month, announced a 60-day suspension of their sit-in after the government conceded to almost all of their key demands.
In Patna, the protesting students under the banner of leftist Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) planned to picket Choudhary’s residence after marching from Gandhi Maidan. Several protesters were detained when the marchers reached Patna’s Dak Bungalow crossing.
Deep Dive
The student organisations have been opposing the Bihar Public Service Commission’s move to fill 33,000 teacher posts following a preliminary and main examination.
Barricades broken, water cannons used
Police used water cannons to disperse the protesters. They said force was used when students broke barricades and allegedly threw stones. Deputy police superintendent Kamakhya Narayan Singh was among the policemen injured.
The protesters scuffled with paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel at Dakbungalow. One student suffered head injuries, and another fell unconscious.
The protesters were unable to move ahead despite breaking barricades due to a shield put up for the Metro construction. “We will stop them and will not let them proceed. A dialogue has been positive, and we hope the students will agree. They have raised issues with the officials, and the outcome has been positive. We would not allow them to enter the restricted area,” said Singh.
The authorities had deployed anti-riot Rapid Action Force and CRPF along with the state police in central Patna ahead of the march.
CM Choudhary launches Vidhyarthi Sahyog Shivir
The march was organised on the day Choudhary launched a Vidhyarthi Sahyog Shivir (Student Support Camp) for redressing complaints in educational institutions, and for feedback to improve the facilities. The camps will be organised monthly on the fourth Tuesday in educational institutions. Students can file their complaints and suggestions to officials for fast disposal of the grievances.
Choudhary, who launched the programme at the Government Engineering College in Vaishali, asked officials to address the issues promptly. “Every student’s voice heard, every problem resolved—this is the resolve, this is the effort,” he said in a social media post.
Students have protested against poor facilities at schools in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. The Rajasthan government issued guidelines restricting the entry of “outsiders” and prohibiting photography and videography on school premises without prior permission after CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka joined students protesting the dilapidated condition and lack of drinking water facilities at a government school in Alwar as part of their “School Theek Karo” (fix schools) campaign.
The CJP has announced the launch of a nationwide campaign, “Kya Bolti Public,” to understand the issues, concerns, and expectations of people, particularly the youth, in September.
