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Amid vehement opposition over alleged discrepancies in a Railway Recruitment Board (RBB) examination, protesters on Friday, 28 January, blocked roads in Bihar in support of the state-wide bandh called by various political parties over the irregularities.
Several students’ organisations, including the left-affiliated All India Students Association (AISA), have joined the bandh. The demonstrators blocked the passage of vehicles in Patna and elsewhere, and set tyres on fire in order to express their outrage.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party workers staged a protest near Chhatauni Chowk, blocking the national highway connecting India to Nepal. The party activists have stopped traffic movement by igniting a fire on the road.
Meanwhile, workers of the Jan Adhikari Party (JAP) reportedly forced shopkeepers to shut their establishments in Patna.
After ruckus at Dakbangla in Patna during protests by JAP activists, the police detained some party workers.
Candidates also protested outside the Revenue Survey Training Institute in Patna, demanding the filling of the vacant seats in the waiting list of the Revenue and Land Reforms Department.
'Group D To Have One Exam': Railway Minister
Former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, meanwhile, held a discussion with Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnav regarding the controversy on Friday, and urged him to find a solution.
The Railways minister reportedly assured Prasad that instead of another Group D examination, additional results of Non-technical Popular Category (NTPC) examination will be announced on the basis of 'one candidate-one result' and decision will be taken in view of that 'unique result.'
Earlier in the day, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sushil Modi had also spoken to news agency ANI and said, "Yesterday, Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has assured me that Group-D will have one exam instead of two and 3.5 lakh additional results of NTPC exam will be declared on the basis of one student-one result. So there is no need to protest."
Protests Against the Railway Examination
Students in Bihar have been protesting against the Railway Recruitment Board's (RRB) new two-exam policy. Students have opposed a decision, claiming that the second stage is unjust to those who have cleared the first stage, results for which were released on 15 January.
The Railways Ministry on Wednesday had suspended the NTPC and Level 1 examination amid the protests. A high-power committee has been formed to look into the concerns and doubts raised by the aspirants.
The protests, which have been continuing for the past few days, had turned violent on Wednesday, when a passenger train was set on fire and another was attacked with stones.
A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against a private teacher, a popular YouTuber who goes by the name of 'Khan Sir,' 16 students, and other unidentified persons on the charges of inciting a mob of students to set a passenger train on fire, indulging in vandalism, and damaging railway property.
In a joint statement released on Thursday, numerous opposition parties – Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, Communist Party of India (CPI), and CPI (Marxist) – stated, "Bihar has the most number of young people in the country and has the highest unemployment rate. Students are being cheated by the central as well as Bihar governments."
(With inputs from ANI.)
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