Hundreds of BPSC and government job aspirants marched towards Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary’s residence in Patna on Tuesday, leading to clashes with police.
The protesters broke through barricades set up to stop the march. Police used lathicharge and water cannons to disperse the crowd, while several protesters were detained.
The students began their march from Gandhi Maidan and are demanding the cancellation of the 70th BPSC examination, alleging irregularities in the recruitment process. They are also seeking greater transparency, a single-tier examination for BPSC-TRE 4 and fair opportunities for Hindi-medium candidates.
The protest continued despite talks between student representatives and the state government a day earlier. The students said they wanted to meet the Chief Minister or Education Minister directly before considering ending their agitation. A farmers’ group protesting over land-related issues also joined the demonstration, following which CRPF personnel were deployed.
Meanwhile, the Bihar government announced a new ‘Vidyarthi Sahyog Shivir’ (Student Support Camp) to address student grievances. The camps will be held at educational institutions on the fourth Tuesday of every month. Students will also be able to submit complaints online and track their status through a dedicated portal and helpline 1100. The new initiative comes as student protests over examination and recruitment issues continue across Bihar.
