Santhali candidates demand re-test over alleged out-of-syllabus questions in JSSC exam

Nearly 40% of the questions in the Santhali language paper of the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission’s (JSSC) Field Worker Recruitment Examination 2024 were allegedly outside the prescribed syllabus, with some questions likened to the level of the UPSC Civil Services Examination and UGC-NET. This has prompted candidates and members of the Santhal community to demand a re-examination.

Candidates claim that the paper, conducted on July 19 for 510 Field Worker posts, contained questions that were disproportionately difficult for those who had prepared according to the notified Matric-level syllabus. They pointed to specific questions, such as asking for the Sanskrit translation of 'Mahua' and the origin of the word 'Hindi', which they argue have no place in a Santhali language paper at the Class 10 level.

Harish Marandi, secretary of the Jharkhand Santhal Student Union, alleged that almost 40% of the questions were outside the syllabus, with four questions containing errors either in the question itself or in the answer options. He stated that memoranda have been submitted to the state government seeking a re-examination.

Another candidate, Gopal Hansda, said many questions pertained to writers not in the Matric-level syllabus. 'Our objection is not to the answer key but to the questions themselves. We knew the moment we saw the paper that several questions were beyond the prescribed syllabus,' he said. He added that JSSC officials asked candidates to wait for the answer key and file formal objections.

Kishore Murmu from Dhanbad noted that candidates prepared according to the notified syllabus, but expected topics from Santhali language and literature were missing. He alleged that the paper was extremely tough compared to other tribal language papers, disadvantaging Santhal candidates.

JSSC Secretary Sudhir Gupta assured that the authority would address the issue once the answer key is issued. 'Candidates may lodge complaints with evidence after the first answer key is published. There is no need to worry… all objections will be verified and addressed,' he said.