Jharkhand Students March to Assembly Over Recruitment Exam Irregularities

A large group of students marched toward the Jharkhand Assembly in Ranchi on Monday, August 10, 2026, protesting alleged irregularities in state recruitment exams, as a prominent hunger-striking leader joined the demonstration despite his weakened condition. The protest, part of a prolonged agitation, saw students breach multiple layers of police barricading while authorities deployed water cannons and imposed restrictions to control the crowd.

Student leader Devendra Nath Mahto, who has been on a hunger strike for nine days at the main protest site, arrived at the march in an ambulance. He carried a portrait of former Chief Minister Shibu Soren and declared that the government would have to listen to the students' demands. "Despite being on hunger strike, the barbed wires will not be able to stop us. I came here in an ambulance. The government will have to listen to us," Mahto said. He criticized the installation of barbed-wire barricades, questioning, "Is this the Pakistan, Bangladesh or China border? These are students."

The protesters are demanding the cancellation of the JSSCCGL examination and a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into alleged irregularities in...