Protesting students broke through police barricades in their bid to gherao the Bihar chief minister’s residence in Patna on Tuesday, even as police used water cannons to disperse the agitators.
A large number of (BPSC) Bihar Public Service Commission Teacher Recruitment Examination-4 aspirants, along with other students, began their pre-announced march from Gandhi Maidan and reached Dak Bungalow crossing, where police detained several people. Many of the students were carrying the tricolour as they jostled with police and broke through barricades at the crossing.
The students have been protesting at Patna’s Gardanibagh area for weeks, with their main demands including a single-tier examination in BPSC-TRE 4, transparency in the recruitment process, recruitment exams by the Bihar Staff Selection Commission and fair opportunities for Hindi-medium candidates. Citing irregularities in the 70th BPSC exam, the protesting students demanded that the exam be cancelled.