By 3 pm on Friday, Ankita Bhadoria was still seated at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, joined by hundreds of other Staff Selection Commission aspirants. Despite her exam being scheduled for 5.30 pm the same day, Ankita had already decided not to appear.
“I have totally boycotted it because if there is no transparency, what is the point of sitting for the exam? What is the point if SSC is not even able to answer our concerns?” she asked.
The demonstration, led by aspirants of SSC’s Selection Post Phase 13 recruitment exam, entered its second day on Friday, with both students and teachers joining in to protest alleged mismanagement in the recruitment exams held from July 24 to August 1. Their grievances range from multiple last-minute exam cancellations to selection of a blacklisted vendor, failure to issue admit cards on time, and poor administrative coordination.
“They gave the tender to a vendor that was already blacklisted. This same vendor couldn’t even conduct the first SSC exam properly,” Ankita alleged.
Sitting next to her was Shivani from Uttarakhand, currently staying in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar for coaching classes. Shivani said many students were struggling under immense emotional and financial pressure. “It’s someone’s last attempt. Someone’s family is putting pressure on them. People are studying day and night. And yet we’re made to go through this.”
Another aspirant, Sakshi from Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia, voiced frustration over late issuance of admit cards and distant centre allotments. “My exam is on August 13. What if I get my admit card only two days before and the centre is in Jammu and Kashmir? How am I supposed to afford the travel at such short notice? Flights, accommodation – it’s unaffordable,” she said.
“There’s also no certainty the exam won’t get cancelled again,” she added, claiming that exams for nearly 50,000 students had already been called off. “If they can’t manage 10-15 lakh students properly, how are they going to handle 40-50 lakh for the Combined Graduate Level Examination?”
Cops say no permission
On Thursday, the protest had turned tense, with police resorting to lathicharge and detaining several students and teachers, including educator Neetu Singh. At least one FIR has been filed against the detained protesters.
Friday’s gathering was comparatively smaller and began peacefully. Protesters sat with placards, chanted slogans, and seemed prepared to cooperate with authorities. But tensions began rising again around 3 pm, when Delhi Police made an announcement declaring the protest unauthorised.
“You were allowed for half an hour only. But we allowed you for two hours. So, now please vacate the place,” a police officer said over a loudspeaker.
As many students began leaving, the situation escalated when police started pushing people out forcefully. In response, some protesters began shouting slogans against the police, prompting officials to order CRPF personnel to intervene. A chase followed, plunging the area into chaos as some students fled while others were detained.
At least two teachers and a dozen students were picked up from the road. A media professional was also detained, along with other protesters. Even individuals who arrived at the location later, after the crowd had dispersed, were picked up by police.
Krishna, another SSC aspirant who claimed to have faced technical issues during his exam a day earlier, said he was cornered by CRPF personnel near a parking area. “I had to jump from the first floor to escape. I injured my foot slightly. But if they had caught me, I would have been beaten badly,” he claimed.
Munendra Singh, who participated in Thursday’s protest, said he was detained and only released late at night. He was also served a notice in connection with an FIR, which includes Sections 223(A) and 305 of the BNS. “They asked me to appear at the police station today. I just got back from there,” he said.
Vikrant Tyagi, a teacher, claimed the police was creating an environment of fear and said the government should listen to the students.
However, Additional DCP Hukma Ram told the media that the detentions were made as BNS Section 163 was imposed in the New Delhi area and the protesters were blocking the road.
“Some students had gathered here without permission. They requested half an hour, so we allowed them. They did the same yesterday – gathered without permission, blocked the road, and clashed with police. Today, we asked them to leave. But again, they tried to block the road,” he said.
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