Ranchi, 19 August (H.S.): Notifications detailing the decisions taken at a special Cabinet meeting chaired by Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on August 17 in view of the ongoing student protests were issued late Tuesday night. The government's decisions will directly affect a total of 45 competitive examinations and their results.

The Cabinet has decided to cancel 22 competitive examinations, including the 11th to 13th Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations, the Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) examination and the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examination.

Six other examinations have been deferred and will be investigated by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). In addition, the government has decided to order CID investigations into 17 other examinations. Thus, a total of 23 examinations will come under the scope of the CID probe.

The government has issued eight notifications in this regard. These include provisions for cancelling various examinations conducted by the TDPL agency. The government has also decided to annul the results of examinations for which the preliminary process was conducted through agencies other than TDPL.

Examinations cancelled under Notification No. 5402 include:

* Recruitment to non-teaching posts in universities across Jharkhand (09/2025)

* Recruitment of Assistant Director/Senior Scientific Officer under the backlog quota (10/2025)

* Recruitment of Assistant Director/Senior Scientific Officer under the regular category (11/2025)

* Recruitment of Drug Inspector (12/2025)

* Recruitment of Assistant Professors in government engineering colleges under the backlog quota (02/2026)

* Recruitment of Lecturers in government polytechnic and women's polytechnic colleges under the backlog quota (03/2026)

* Recruitment of Lecturers in government polytechnic and women's polytechnic colleges under the regular category (04/2026)

* Recruitment of Assistant Professors in super-speciality departments of medical colleges (07/2026)

Examinations cancelled under Notification No. 5403 include:

* Civil Judge (Junior Division) recruitment examination (22/2023)

* Assistant Conservator of Forests examination (03/2024)

* Forest Range Officer examination (04/2024)

* Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) backlog recruitment examination (05/2025)

* Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) regular recruitment examination (06/2025)

* Jharkhand Combined Civil Services Examination-2025 (01/2026)

* Jharkhand Combined Civil Services Examination (backlog)-2025 (05/2026)

* Jharkhand Combined Civil Services Examination (backlog)-2023 (06/2026)

Examinations cancelled under Notification No. 5404 include:

* Food Safety Officer recruitment examination (18/2023)

* Child Development Project Officer recruitment examination (21/2023)

* Combined Civil Services Examination-2023 (01/2024)

The JSSC CGL examination has also been cancelled. The notification said the decision was taken on the basis of facts that emerged during the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into complaints of irregularities in the CGL examination and the CID investigation into alleged irregularities in JPSC examinations.

The government has also decided to seek the establishment of a fast-track court for cases related to irregularities in examinations conducted by JPSC and JSSC. For this purpose, the Jharkhand High Court will be approached.

Internal monitoring cells will also be established in both commissions. In addition, the government has decided to constitute a committee headed by Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Amitabh Kaushal to recommend reforms in the functioning of the two commissions.

The measures were announced against the backdrop of sustained student protests demanding action over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations conducted by JPSC and JSSC.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar