Patna Teacher Recruitment Protest: Police Detain Students, Use Water Cannons As Protestors Attempt CM Residence Gherao

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Students and police officials clashed in Patna on Tuesday as the former attempted to break police barricades as they attempted to march towards Raj Bhavan. The students also attempted to gherao the CM's residence, PTI reported.

Law enforcers even used water cannons to disperse the agitating students.

The police had warned the protestors that they would not be allowed to move into the restricted area. DSP Kamakhya Narayan Singh has said that discussions with senior officials of the police were positive and he hoped that the march would be called off by the students.

A huge number of aspirants for the TRE-4 BPSC (Bihar Public Service Commission), along with others, had began their pre-announced march from Patna's Gandhi Maidan and reached Dak Bungalow crossing where police detained several individuals.

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The students got into a jostle with the police officials and broke through their barricades set up at the Dak Bungalow crossing.

What are the students' demands?

These students were, for weeks, protesting at the Gardanibagh area of Patna, wherein they had been demanding a single-tier examination in BPSC-TRE 4 (Teacher Recruitment Examination), transparency when it comes to the process of recruitment and the exams held by the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC), as well as fair opportunity for candidates who have carried out their education in the Hindi medium. The students have been citing that there were regularities in the 70th BSSC examinations, for which they want the same cancelled.

Congress leader Sushil Kumar told ANI, "We want to state clearly that a single-stage examination must be implemented for TRE 4.0 at all costs, and negative marking should be abolished. There are numerous other issues as well, regarding the BPSC, BSSC, Sub-Inspector recruitment. The government has offered no assurances on any of these points."

He further added, "We have urged the Chief Minister to hold a dialogue; he should invite our delegation for talks. We have been on a hunger strike for nine days, yet no one is willing to listen to us. Just imagine, had the government engaged in dialogue, this situation would not have arisen. We are heading towards the Chief Minister's residence; the Chief Minister should hold talks, and our delegation will go there for the discussion."

Also Read | Water cannons, barricades stop students' march to Bihar CM's residence in Patna Tejashwi Yadav's letter to Samrat Chaudhary

Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav has written a letter to CM Samrat Chaudhary in this regard, wherein the former has urged him to not ignore the students and engage in constructive dialogue with them so that an immediate resolution of the matter is found.

Yadav has also urged that the TRE-4 be conducted as a single examination and that the alleged discrimination being faced by those from Hindi medium educational backgrounds be addressed.

Yadav has also called for transparency in competitive exams held by the state, including those for Sub-Inspector, Constable, BSSC, and BPSC. Yadav has also called for a high-level independent investigation into previous examinations.

With agency inputs

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