Police use water cannons during protest against exam in Bihar
Police in the Indian state of Bihar used water cannons and detained dozens of protesters in Patna. Demonstrators demanded the cancellation of a competitive examination for recruitment to the civil service over allegations of leaked exam questions and other irregularities, Channel NewsAsia reports, citing Reuters.
Protest in Patna
Participants in the rally attempted to march to the residence of the state governor. Footage from the ANI news agency shows hundreds of protesters breaking through police barricades, after which law enforcement officers directed jets of water at them to push back the crowd.
Footage also shows protesters being put onto a police bus, which later left the scene.
The exam and the authorities’ position
The rally is linked to an examination of the Bihar Public Service Commission, held to recruit officials for the state administration. The exam took place in December 2024. According to local media, more than 300,000 candidates took part, competing for 2,000 positions. The positions were filled in June after two stages of testing and an interview.
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State authorities had previously denied allegations of a large-scale leak of exam questions but scheduled a re-examination at one examination center.
Senior police officer K. S. Anupam told Reuters that the protest became peaceful and that the authorities had met most of the participants’ demands. Education Minister Mithilesh Tiwari also said that the government had responded to the students’ demands, without specifying details, and added that the possibility of dialogue remained open.
The report notes that India has recently seen an increase in protests over possible irregularities during examinations. Similar actions in the neighboring state of Jharkhand led to the cancellation of civil service examinations.
