Testing times: Bihar’s exam crisis ignites a youth uprising

The continuing student protests in Bihar over the controversy surrounding the Integrated 70th Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination of the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) for 2,035 posts, which was conducted on December 13, 2024, have become a significant challenge to the Nitish Kumar government, especially as it comes just nine months before the Assembly election.

The crisis started when students (around 3.8 lakh candidates sat for the test at 912 centres across the State) staged a protest at Patna’s Bapu Pariksha Parisar Examination Complex alleging that question papers had been leaked and that there were delays in paper distribution. Officials of the district administration and the police were called in, and FIRs were lodged against several students.

A few days later, the BPSC ordered a retest at the Patna centre, claiming that the previous examination was disrupted by unruly aspirants as part of a “conspiracy”. Students, however, claimed it was because there was evidence that the distribution of question papers had indeed been delayed at this centre.

According to BPSC Chairman, Parmar Ravi Manubhai, CCTV footage at the Bapu centre showed some candidates snatching question papers from the invigilators and storming out of the hall screaming that the paper had been leaked.

While the BPSC claimed that the exam was conducted smoothly at all the other centres, students alleged there was a delay in students getting question papers in at least 30 other centres, and that the CCTVs at some centres were non-functional.

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Following this, students began a protest at several sites in Patna, including Gardanibagh and Gandhi Maidan, demanding cancellation of the examination, a retest, and withdrawal of the FIRs against them. On December 24, a student, Sonu Kumar, died by suicide, allegedly due to exam-induced stress. His death fuelled the students’ stir.

The next day, the police lathicharged students at the Gardanibagh protest site, injuring over a dozen of them. Prashant Kishor—the latest entrant to Bihar politics and founder of the Jan Suraaj party—visited the site and called the students for a meeting on December 27, on which day he marched with the students from Gandhi Maidan to meet Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. They were stopped on the way and offered a meeting with a Secretary-level officer. With the students divided over the administration’s proposal, Kishor left the site.

On December 29, over 15,000 students gathered at Gandhi Maidan, but could not meet the Chief Minister. A delegation of students led by Jan Suraaj party leader R.K. Mishra met Chief Secretary Amrit Lal Meena, but no breakthrough was achieved. The next day Kishor gave the Nitish Kumar government a 48-hour ultimatum: it should act on the alleged paper leak issue and the students’ demands, failing which he would embark on a hunger strike.

On December 31, Brajesh Singh, a Supreme Court advocate from Bihar, in a petition filed before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), alleged that the Patna Police had lathicharged protesting BPSC aspirants during three major protests in December 2024 and used water cannons on them in the chilly winter night. Alleging that protesters, including girls, were beaten brutally, Brajesh Singh demanded that the NHRC call for an action-taken report from the State government. While the students wanted the cancellation of the December 13 examination at all centres, the BPSC cancelled it only at Bapu Examination Complex, with BPSC Secretary Satya Prakash Sharma arguing that in the past too exams had been cancelled at one centre while the rest were held valid.

Opposition rallies around students

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav also joined the protest at Gandhi Maidan, backing the demand for cancellation of the December 13 examination. Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation [CPI(M-L)L] MLA Sandeep Saurav wrote to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar backing the students’ demand. Extending support to the students’ demand for a roadblock on December 30, the CPI(M-L)L said the Bihar government must drop its “stubborn stance and accept the demands of protesting BPSC candidates”. He said that in the age of social media, the argument that irregularities had occurred at only one examination centre was absurd.

On January 4, the BPSC conducted a retest for students from the Bapu centre at 22 other centres in Patna. It said that of the 12,012 candidates, 8,111 downloaded admit cards, but only 5,943 appeared for the retest, which the BPSC said was 743 more than on December 13.

Petitioners seeking the cancellation of the entire examination have approached the Supreme Court alleging “rigging” in the examination and also sought action against the administration and the police for the lathicharge.

Kishor was detained on January 6 after a high-voltage drama when he and his supporters were evicted from the dharna site. His aides alleged that the police had slapped Kishor, who was taken to jail after he refused to sign a bail bond. After his release, his supporters went to town claiming Kishor was fighting for the people and students of Bihar.

Prashant Kishor’s political plunge

A political slugfest soon began, with Kishor taunting Tejashwi Yadav, and the latter accusing Kishor of trying to hijack the students’ protest for his own ends and acting as the BJP’s B team.

Mohammad Sajjad, Associate Professor, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University, said that the BPSC should look into the legitimate demands of the youth. “The BPSC, the Nitish supporters, and the opposition, should all explain the issue with utmost clarity,” he said.

Kishor’s active involvement in the student protests appears to signal that he is using the issue to emerge in Bihar’s political scene. He could divide the non-BJP vote, and his party could end up hurting the political prospects of not only Nitish Kumar but also Tejashwi Yadav.

There is not one region in Bihar where students have not altered the course of political history in the past. One recalls that the bedrock of the JP Movement against corruption was started by students in Patna in 1974, which later became a national movement that led to the ouster of the Indira Gandhi regime at the Centre in 1977.

Javed Raja, a former national general secretary of the Janata Dal (United) who now heads the Loktantrik Janata Dal, told Frontline: “Nitish Kumar is a product of the students’ movement of 1974. He should have all the more been eager to resolve the problem of students in the State ruled by him. He ignores the power of students at his own peril. He should immediately engage with the students. Why is he not going and talking to them? This could well escalate to a level that could alter the course of politics in Bihar, where massive unemployment and migration to cities by youths for eking out a livelihood is common.”

Even after the students called for a Bihar bandh on January 1, which all opposition parties supported, there has been no letup in the protests. Speaking to reporters, former Rajya Sabha MP Pavan K. Verma said: “The… Chief Minister not meeting protesting students is an example of administrative insensitivity, which cannot be condoned.” But Nitish Kumar on his part has been highlighting the fact that his administration gave government jobs to young people both when he was in an alliance with the RJD and now with the BJP.

Prem Singh, a former teacher at Delhi University and a former socialist leader, told Frontline: “One can see three main things emerging from the resistance movement. One, the controversy has once again brought to light the fact that the credibility of the system of various competitive examinations in the entire country, including Bihar, is under serious question. Two, the unemployed youth appearing in these competitions have a deep feeling of insecurity about their future. Third, the ruling parties try to suppress such protests taking place across the country and the opposition parties try to take political advantage of it.”

Unrest over unemployment

Politics apart, the continued protest reflects young people’s deep-seated anxieties about unemployment, an issue that surfaces time and again in Bihar. In 2022, students angry over the Agnipath scheme of short-term recruitment in the Indian Army set on fire two trains, the Bhagalpur-New Delhi Vikramshila Express and Jammu Tawi-Guwahati Amarnath Express in Lakhisarai and Samastipur districts, respectively. The students also set a railway station on fire in the Bhojpur district besides stopping trains at various places.

Even on January 3, one of the latest rounds of protest, the Railways bore the brunt of the students’ fury when, led by the independent MP Rajesh Ranjan, alias Pappu Yadav, they squatted on the tracks at Sachiwalay Halt station in Patna, disrupting train movement.

According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, Bihar recorded 400 incidents of student protests between 2018 and 2022. According to reports, Bihar has seen on average 80 student protests a year in the past five years.

The current anger has to be seen in context of the State’s crying need for development and its burgeoning unemployment rate. It explains how many States in the country have a significant migrant labour population, particularly in the informal sector, hailing from Bihar. This is even more visible in metros like New Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai.

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Bihar’s unemployment rate has consistently been higher than the national average: 3.9 per cent against the national average of 3.2 per cent, according to the latest data. The State tops the poverty chart, too. As per the National Multidimensional Poverty Index, nearly 34 per cent of Bihar’s population is multidimensionally poor.

Speaking to Frontline, Ajay Gudavarthy, Associate Professor at the Centre for Political Studies, JNU, said: “There is no other political or policy alternate offered when the aggrieved groups hit the streets. Whether it is farmers or students, state repression and police excesses seem to be the only alternative left. What we need is a comprehensive review of policy on government recruitment. From private jobs, people are back to looking for government jobs. In Uttar Pradesh there were thousands of applicants for a few jobs and an instance of PhD holders applying for peon’s job. This is nothing short of an economic emergency.”

Clearly, the students’ protest in Bihar will simmer for at least some more time, with no side ready to be the first to back down. But the macro issues might still be left unaddressed.