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NEW DELHI: Police detained several job aspirants in Patna on Saturday after a protest march towards Lok Bhavan turned tense. Demonstrators clashed with security personnel while demanding greater transparency in government recruitment.A large number of aspirants took part in the march, which was stopped near R-Golumber after police put up barricades, officials said.A scuffle broke out when protesters tried to breach the barricades, following which security personnel used “mild force” to disperse them. Several protesters were subsequently detained, they said.City SP (Central) Mamta Kalyani told news agency PTI, “Adequate forces have been deployed to handle any situation.”The protesters are seeking adherence to UGC rules for professor appointments, a higher age limit, a single-tier BPSC TRE-4 exam and a level playing field for Hindi-medium candidates, among other demands.Guest faculty members of universities in Bihar and PhD holders have been protesting for over a fortnight, seeking implementation of UGC Regulation 2018 in the appointment of assistant professors, raising the maximum age limit for applicants to 55 years, regularisation of assistant professor appointments and implementation of a domicile policy.The protestors have also sought the resignation of higher education minister Sanjay Singh Tiger and additional chief secretary Dipak Kumar Singh, who held a meeting with the demonstrators a few days ago to sort out the matter.The latest protest comes a day after leader of opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, met job aspirants protesting in Patna and extended the RJD’s support to their demands.“Toying with the future of students is unacceptable. All of us will fight this battle together and uproot this incompetent government,” he said.Yadav said, “We stand in support of all the students and job aspirants protesting here. We have repeatedly urged the government to fulfil their demands. We hit the streets a few days ago and will do that again if need be.”The agitation has continued despite the BPSC issuing a notification on Tuesday for recruitment to more than 32,000 posts.
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“The government should refrain from experimenting with TRE-4 exams, which are already delayed by around two years. Even if the government wishes to conduct the two-tier exam, including mains, for BPSC, they should do it from TRE-5 because aspirants have already lost too much time,” student leader Dileep Kumar told PTI on Thursday.He also demanded the withdrawal of the 25 per cent bonus weightage given to existing contractual employees in BSSC exams, calling it an “unfair advantage to contractual employees”.Protesters have warned of further escalation. One of the protesting groups said it would gherao the Bihar chief minister’s official residence on August 25 if the government failed to hold a meaningful dialogue by August 24.TRE-4 protesters have also threatened to call a Bihar bandh if their demands are not considered.
