SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Feb 23: Students preparing for state exams often prepare for five to ten years before clearing the exams. Meanwhile, they suffer emotionally, economically and physically waiting in line patiently for their turn to become an officer of the state, usually without the expected results.
Such students often belong to the lower and lower middle-class strata of society and believe that education is the only way to improve their situation in society. Hailing from small towns and villages, these students often work part time to sustain themselves in cities like Ranchi and to save money often live in cramped rooms with lights hanging off wires above the head in broken down lodges and hostels with a few roommates.
One such student, Santosh Sahu, from a poor family in Lohardaga initially came to Ranchi for classes in IGNOU for MA. “I would walk 7 kms to and from the station on Sundays while coming to Ranchi for classes just so I could save some money. After this, I came to Ranchi to prepare for the JPSC exams in 2014. After six years, I lost all hope in the state governments, be it BJP or JMM-led. Due to the incompetence of both, the JPSC and state governments, I feel like I wasted my years in Ranchi and instead could have done something else for my career,” he said.
Sahu continued, “Despite being an MA, like my father who was a daily wage worker, I am also a MNREGA worker. We still live in a clay house that was damaged during rains and is sunken on one side. My father was a daily wage worker all his life, he worked hard all his life so that I, his son could do something in my life and not fall into the same family trade. I tried, repeatedly, gave exams, but lost my patience after being denied due to the irregularities and incompetence of JPSC officials who could not publish one correct result on time without issues.”
Another student, Arvind Kumar, who was initially hesitant about sharing his life story said, “I had cleared polytechnic exams back in 2003, and had I wanted I could have been an engineer today. However, it was my father’s dream that I become a CO or BDO. Back then officials had red-lights on their cars and my father wanted to see one on mine as well. He is no more and I feel helpless that I have not yet been able to fulfill his last wish.”
“Due to the vast course of JPSC, I didn’t even try for any other course because I wanted to clear the exams without losing focus. I came here in 2010 and was supported by my father who was a farmer. After he passed away, my elder brother helped me a lot and took care of my educational costs. I initially started living in a flat with friends but despite curtailing, my costs would run up to at least Rs 5000 per month, which is a huge amount of money for students like us, which is why I shifted to the lodge. I earn enough for my personal expenses through tuition and sustain myself here,” Arvind added.
Anuj Kumar, another such student preparing for JPSC said, “I had started preparing for JPSC exams while completing my undergraduate course. After trying for JPSC in 2016, I had hopes of clearing it, but due to the confusion created by JPSC and then the state government, poor students like us are made to suffer for the mistakes of officials. Only two JPSC exams have been conducted between 2016 and 2022, which have been riddled with controversies since the very beginning. Until the time officials that take their jobs seriously are not hired at such offices, the future of students like us will continue hanging in the balance. Even family members have started to discourage us now to stop trying just to maintain the economic conditions of the family. I believe JPSC should be handed over to officials handling UPSC. At least such errors would not happen then.”
Shailesh Kumar, son of a PDS shop owner is another such student from a remote village. He said, “I have been preparing for all kinds of state-level exams including JPSC, JSSC, JCECEB among others for the past five years. Any kind of appointment has not been done since 2017 without controversy or a court case except the Daroga appointment in 2017. I had even cleared a constable and a special branch exam during the BJP reign and had scored 70-75 percent in both exams. I waited with hopes that I would be selected for either of the exams. However, after the 2019 elections, the JMM-led government released a notification stating that all exams and appointments done by the BJP-led government have been cancelled because proper rules were not followed.”
“The politics and ignorance of officials lead to the lives of aspirants being wasted. The delays are done because of the government and the boards, but still any relief age-wise is not given to students, which is why they become eligible to contest exams. The government and these boards should understand what kind of situations students like us go through. It seems that the officials don’t care for the students. The promises made to students during elections are forgotten, while we truly believe in leaders like Hemant Soren. We voted for JMM thinking that they would work for us, but they have proved us wrong since 2019. We have no options, because neither the BJP nor the JMM thought of students but made empty promises for votes,” Shailesh continued.
Such is the plight of these students who usually sacrifice their whole lives just for a chance to clear the JPSC and other state exams, meanwhile, officials at such institutions are unable to publish or even conduct exams without issues and controversies. This shows how much importance is given to such hardworking students by the state governments and exam boards and commissions.
