It’s Sunday morning in Ranchi, and the tension at Jaipal Singh Munda Stadium hasn’t eased one bit. The Jharkhand government has called for another round of talks with the protesting students later today, around noon. This comes after a string of meetings on Friday night and all through Saturday that went nowhere. The agitation is now into its sixteenth day, and the health of one of the main faces of the protest, Devendra Nath Mahto, has taken a worrying turn.
Mahto has been on an indefinite hunger strike for over a week now. He started taking only water and salt after Sonam Wangchuk spoke to him and urged him not to refuse even that. Last night, around 3 in the morning, his condition suddenly dropped. Doctors checked his blood sugar and found it at 53. He’s been saying for a couple of days that speaking itself has become difficult, that his blood pressure and sugar are low, that his whole body feels dehydrated, and that his organs just aren’t coping anymore. Still, he refuses to leave the stadium or call off the fast until something real comes out of the talks.
A medical team from Sadar Hospital has been coming to the site. This morning Dr A.P. Sinha told people that the fasting students have lost weight, no question about it, but right now they are alert and their vitals are holding. He was honest about it — if these were ordinary patients, they would already be in hospital. But the students don’t want to go, so the doctors are treating them right there. “If things get worse, we’ll shift them,” he said. That’s the situation as it stands.
The whole protest started after the results of the 14th JPSC preliminary exam came out in early July. Students allege paper leaks and other irregularities, not just in that exam but across several JPSC and JSSC recruitments. Their main demands are clear: cancel the 14th JPSC exam, order an independent inquiry — either by the CBI or a panel of retired high court judges from outside the state — and bring in proper reforms so the whole recruitment process becomes transparent and follows a proper calendar like the UPSC and SSC.
Over the last two days the government has been talking to different groups. On Friday night ministers met the JPSC-JSSC Reforms Manch. Then on Saturday they held separate rounds with Mahto’s own group, the NSUI, Jharkhand Chhatra Morcha, and Adivasi Chhatra Sangh. Ministers like Sudivya Kumar Sonu, Dipika Pandey Singh, Chamra Linda and Sanjay Prasad Yadav were part of those meetings. After everything remained stuck, they went to Chief Minister Hemant Soren and decided on one more round today.
Not everyone is buying it. The Reforms Manch has already called the fresh invitation “political manoeuvring.” They feel the government is trying to split the students by talking to different factions separately and taking the focus away from the actual demands. Some of the protesters keep saying they want to talk directly to the Chief Minister, not just ministers, and preferably in the open with the media present, not behind closed doors.
Earlier this week another student, Rahul Kranti, had to be rushed to Sadar Hospital when his health failed. He was one of the ones who joined the fast. Health Minister Irfan Ansari went to see him, and so did Leader of Opposition Babulal Marandi. Even some people from the ruling side have been saying the government needs to sort this out before something serious happens. Union Minister Sanjay Seth and state BJP president Aditya Sahu also visited the stadium and spoke to the students. Former education minister Neera Yadav has been openly critical, saying the real grievances of the job seekers are still not being addressed.
You can feel the personal cost when you listen to the students. Many of them have been preparing for years. Families have spent money, hopes have been pinned on these exams, and now they feel the system itself is tilted. Mahto has been quite blunt — he said the white sheet he’s lying under could become his shroud, but he won’t end the fast until the talks actually deliver something for the students.
The government side has been saying the demands are genuine and that they’ve even opened a special email ID for people to send suggestions on recruitment reforms. Ministers keep assuring that everything is being taken to the Chief Minister. But the students want more than words. They want the disputed exam cancelled and a proper independent probe started. Until that happens, the hunger strike and the sit-in continue.
So here we are on Sunday. Another set of talks is about to begin. Whether it breaks the deadlock or just adds another day to this long, draining protest remains to be seen. For the young people still sitting at the stadium, many of them already weak, the next few hours matter a lot. They’ve already paid a heavy price with their health. The question is whether the government is finally ready to give them something concrete in return.
Sources:
PTI and DT Next reports, 9 August 2026
Hindustan Times coverage of the same day
Times of India Ranchi reports from 8 and 9 August
ANI statements from Dr A.P. Sinha, Devendra Nath Mahto and government ministers
India Today and Economic Times reports on the earlier hospitalisation and ongoing negotiations
@Rohit Manral
