When 40-year-old Rahul Kranti walked into the protest site, he said he was carrying nearly a decade of frustration with Jharkhand’s recruitment system. On Friday, he was among the candidates on an indefinite hunger strike, saying repeated examinations, court battles and delayed recruitments had left him with little choice but to take to the streets.Like Kranti, those on the stage symbolise the grievances that have simmered among the state’s job aspirants over decades. From a woman attending her first-ever protest to a man who has spent countless hours in court, The Indian Express spoke to those on hunger strike to understand the circumstances that brought them here.Kranti completed his postgraduate degree in Geography in 2010 and later earned a Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Development from IGNOU, along with a B.Ed, hoping that multiple qualifications would improve his chances of securing a government teaching job.Also Read | ‘Your parents could not face their fears, you have… and changed country’: Rahul Gandhi at Prayagraj meetA father of a six-year-old girl, Kranti measures his life between government exams. In 2016, he cleared the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission’s Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) examination.“I scored 20 marks more than the last selected candidate in the OBC category, yet never received an appointment,” he said, showing his merit-list document on his phone.He approached the Jharkhand High Court along with several other candidates. “In November 2025, the court directed the government to appoint the remaining candidates within six months, but the state challenged the order before a division bench. Six months after the judgment, when appointments were still not made, I filed a contempt petition in June, which remains pending,” he said.The delays did not stop there. Kranti also qualified for the 2024 Assistant Acharya recruitment examination, but alleges that appointments have been issued in phases rather than filling all 26,001 advertised vacancies in one go.Story continues below this adAlso Read | Jharkhand student protest: Round 2 of talks with government fails to end deadlock“Only around 11,500 appointment letters have been distributed so far, while thousands of vacancies remain unfilled,” he claimed.Because repeated delays in conducting the JPSC examination pushed him beyond the prescribed age limit, Kranti became the lead petitioner in a High Court case seeking age relaxation for candidates. This February, the court ruled in favour of 264 petitioners, including Kranti.“It allowed us to appear in the 14th JPSC examination. But the current developments (in JPSC recruitment) have shattered those dreams, and all my hopes are ending,” he said.‘Protest is my power’On the same stage where protesters have gathered, 27-year-old Unne Habiba from Bokaro held a copy of the Constitution firmly in her hand. Beside her was a photograph of B R Ambedkar.Story continues below this adHabiba has been at the protest since July 29 and is surviving on water during her hunger strike, now in its fifth day.She studied in Bokaro, completing a BA in English in 2019. She said she was among the top performers in her college and also figured among the district’s top 10 students.In 2017, while in her first year of college, she began preparing for the Panchayat Secretary recruitment, for which the required qualification was Class 12. “I cleared the examination,” she said.Also Read | Jharkhand protest, Day 14: Government holds talks with students, seeks time to examine demandsBut the recruitment process dragged on. By the time it progressed, Habiba discovered that she was just a day short of the age eligibility for two posts, including the Lower Division Clerk post. “I had cleared the examination and had also cleared the Hindi typing test required for the LDC post,” she said.Story continues below this adThe 2017 recruitment had 3,088 vacancies across five posts, according to Habiba. “Two lists have been released, while I have been waiting for the third for around three years. After all these scams and corruption, I am not sure if my name will appear in the last list,” she said.She said she scored 349 marks against a cut-off of around 322, but the delay in completing the recruitment process turned age eligibility into a barrier.She later moved on to other competitive examinations, beginning JPSC preparation in 2021 and appearing in several exams, including the 14th JPSC.“At home, my father, once a small farmer, is now old and unable to work. My brothers are employed in the private sector, helping run the household. However, coming from a minority community, I wanted to help my family and myself,” she said.Story continues below this adUnlike several others, her case is not in court. “The Constitution gives me the right to protest. This is my power,” she said.Long courtroom battleRupesh Kumar Pal, a 30-year-old from Garhwa, is among the students who have spent years preparing for government jobs.He graduated with a degree in English in 2018 and completed a B.Ed. in 2020. He then obtained a Master’s degree in English in 2022, followed by another in Political Science in 2024.Also Read | PM to students: Question things accepted without thought, find solutionsAlongside his studies, he was preparing for government recruitment examinations. But it was the JSSC CGL recruitment that drew him into a legal battle with the state recruitment system.Story continues below this adThe JSSC CGL examination advertised in 2016 was eventually held in 2024 after repeated delays over allegations of irregularities. Pal said he performed well and scored around 83 per cent, but his result was not declared. He claimed candidates who scored lower were eventually selected.The controversy led him to approach the Jharkhand High Court in September 2025, with more than 100 candidates joining the challenge.The examination itself had already been at the centre of controversy. “After the 2024 examination, everyone alleged that the paper had been leaked. Students approached the commission and submitted material and evidence. The commission initially denied the allegation,” he said.After an FIR was filed in Ranchi, students approached the court, leading to the formation of an SIT. “The first CID team found evidence supporting the allegation,” he claimed.Story continues below this adHe further alleged that late last year, the government rejected the findings of the first investigation team and constituted another team whose conclusions differed from those of the first. The matter remains before the High Court.“In the last hearing from last year, the court dismissed the demand to hand over the case to the CBI,” he said.The 2024 JSSC CGL recruitment had grown from an initial advertisement of around 800 posts to more than 2,000, according to Pal. He said around 1,800 candidates have been appointed, while several hundred posts remain vacant.Pal continues to prepare for competitive examinations.He is now on the fifth day of his hunger strike.Story continues below this adHer first protestFor 28-year-old Ranchi resident Savita Kumari, the hunger strike is the culmination of a series of setbacks.A graduate of Ranchi Women’s College, Savita said she began preparing for competitive examinations after getting her degree in 2020, hoping to secure a job and improve her family’s financial condition. Since then, she has appeared for the JSSC CGL examination twice, the municipal recruitment examination, the Excise Constable recruitment and the JPSC examination.One recruitment that has come to define her long wait is the Jharkhand Excise Constable recruitment. The examination was notified as the Jharkhand Excise Constable Competitive Examination (JECCE) 2023, but the process stretched on for years. During physical tests held in August 2024, 11 candidates died while undertaking the running test at different centres across the state.“I cleared the physical test but continued to wait for the written examination, which was finally held in April this year,” she said.However, the examination itself was hit by another controversy when police raided an under-construction building in Rargaon, where 159 candidates, including the alleged masterminds, were detained hours before the examination.Now on the fifth day of her hunger strike, Savita said she had never participated in such a protest before.“This is the first time I have gone on a hunger strike. Initially, I was not taking either food or water. But since yesterday, after we saw our fellow protester’s health deteriorate and he was admitted to the emergency ward, we started taking small amounts of water,” she said.Savita said her family is pressuring her to marry as she is the only unmarried sibling left. Her mother died in 2018. “I want to get a government job and fulfil the dream I had for my mother. I want to do something that would make her soul happy,” she said.