Guwahati: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday extended “moral support” to students protesting in Jharkhand over alleged paper leaks in recruitment examinations and urged the JMM-led govt to immediately accept their demands.Sarma said the crisis could have been averted had the state govt acted with “sensitivity and transparency” on students’ complaints earlier.“During the Jharkhand Assembly elections, I had the opportunity to closely witness the pain, anger and concerns of JSSC-CGL aspirants regarding the recruitment process,” he wrote on X.“I can well understand the feelings of the students who are protesting today for their future and for justice. If the JMM-Congress-RJD Jharkhand govt had acted with sensitivity and transparency on the students’ complaints in a timely manner, the situation would not have reached this point. Unfortunately, allegations of irregularities and paper leaks have continued to mount, and today the future of lakhs of youth is in crisis,” he wrote.Expressing “moral support for this just movement of Jharkhand’s students and youth,” Sarma urged the state govt to immediately accept the students’ “legitimate demands” and deliver justice.He said injustice to the future of the youth could not be accepted under any circumstances.Students have been staging an indefinite protest at Ranchi’s Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium since July 29 over alleged paper leaks in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examination and other recruitment tests.On Tuesday, the protesters demanded an inquiry by an independent panel of retired high court judges from outside Jharkhand, alleging the state govt was attempting to “whitewash” the issue by assigning the probe to the CID.The protesters earlier sought a CBI investigation along with an Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe, claiming large-scale financial transactions were linked to the alleged recruitment scam.
