STET candidates’ violent protest, police lathicharge

The State Teacher Eligibility Test (STET) candidates’ protest took a violent turn on Tuesday as police began lathicharging the candidates. According to reports, a massive protest broke out at the Eco Park in Patna where STET candidates had gathered in large numbers to protest against the education minister of Bihar Vijay Kumar Choudhary.

The protest had been going on for the last 10 days in the city outside the Bihar School Examination Board. The STET candidates had gathered to demand jobs following which they reportedly marched towards Raj Bhawan and the residence of the education minister. It was learned that the protestors were allegedly planning to gherao the residence of Choudhary. The area was a VIP area and hence Section 144 had been implemented. As a result, police tried to control the situation and asked the protestors to disperse failing to which, they resorted to lathi-charge.

There were also reports that the protestors have allegedly heckled the staff of the examination board. However, as their protest turned violent on Tuesday, police had to take immediate action. According to sources, during the lathi charge, many protestors were injured.

Meanwhile, one STET candidate’s result went viral on social media after Bihar’s education department released Secondary Teacher Eligibility Test (STET) results. The result is of a candidate named Rishikesh Kumar, however, it has a picture of Malayalam actress Anupama Parameswaran. Jehanabad based candidate Rishikesh Kumar was declared qualified in the teachers’ recruitment examination but excluded from the merit list like hundreds of other candidates, who have questioned the board’s criteria for compiling the merit list, leaving out successful candidates. The apparent irregularity in the merit list is not Kumar’s only problem, he was also issued a result sheet attached with a photograph of Telugu and Malayalam actress Anupama Parameswaran, making the result sheet go viral over Bihar education department’s carelessness. Kumar said he had registered a complaint with the board last year for inserting the female actor’s photograph in his admit card and also sought photo correction in January last year, however, it was clear that it didn’t work.