On Monday. After twenty-four days of students sitting out in the open, some of them on hunger strike for almost a fortnight, Chief Minister Hemant Soren finally stood up and said the government was cancelling the JSSC-CGL exam. Not just that one paper – everything connected to the private firm TDPL is gone. Every test they conducted, every result they put out, every selection they made. All of it is being thrown out.
Soren spoke after a long Cabinet meeting that went on for hours. He didn’t sugar-coat it. He said the government had looked at the whole mess from every side and decided to scrap everything linked to TDPL. A proper inquiry will now go back all the way to 2014, checking every small and big irregularity that has shown up in recruitment exams over the years. The CID has been told to dig deep. For the young people who have been camping at Jaipal Singh Stadium and outside the secretariat, this felt like a real win.
The whole thing has a long, ugly backstory. Allegations of paper leaks have been floating around for years – both in JPSC and JSSC exams. In the CGL process itself, there were stories of questions and answers being handed out beforehand. One of the accused, a man who worked with TDPL and somehow managed to get selected himself, told investigators that candidates were taken to Bokaro, made to memorise dozens of questions, and charged lakhs of rupees each. Money was collected in crores from just a small group. Other companies involved in printing and logistics are also under the scanner. People who had already got jobs through these processes have been arrested. It’s a tangled web, and the CM admitted that the ongoing probes have thrown up some pretty shocking stuff. He didn’t spell everything out because the investigation is still going on, but he didn’t deny it either.
He’s also set up a reforms committee under a senior officer, Amitabh Kaushal, and opened a portal so students, teachers and parents can send in their suggestions. Soren kept saying these young people are not some separate group – they’re worried about their future, just like any of us would be. That line felt honest.
Of course, not everyone is smiling. The candidates who had already cleared the exam and were waiting for their appointment letters or had already joined are now standing outside the same secretariat, angry and confused. For them, years of hard work suddenly feel wasted. The government will have to figure out what to do with those appointments and how to run a fresh, cleaner process. That part is still messy.
Student leaders have welcomed the cancellation but they’re still pushing for a CBI probe. They feel only a central agency can go all the way to the bottom of this. Rahul Gandhi had written to Soren earlier in the day asking him to sit with the students and listen properly. Whether that CBI demand will be accepted is still an open question. Some groups have already set a deadline and are talking about further action if it doesn’t come.
This decision is a big reset. It means a lot of work, results and jobs linked to TDPL are being wiped clean. Fresh exams will have to be held under stricter rules. For the aspirants who stuck it out through hunger strikes, heat, and uncertainty, today brought a sense that their voices finally reached the top. For the administration, it’s an admission that the system had serious cracks and that public pressure forced a change of course.
Government jobs in Jharkhand still mean a lot – stability, respect, a way out for families who have waited too long. When trust in those exams collapses, the anger goes deep. Monday’s announcement won’t fix everything overnight. The real test will be the inquiry into the last ten years, the reforms that actually get implemented, and whether the next round of recruitment feels fair to everyone. But for one day at least, the students who refused to leave the streets were heard.
Sources:
Reports and statements carried by The Tribune, The Indian Express, Livemint, The Hindu, The Statesman, CNBC-TV18, Firstpost, India Today, Republic, The Week, and ANI on 17 August 2026, along with Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s own remarks after the Cabinet meeting.
@Rohit Manral
