Jharkhand Announces Suspension Of Mobile Internet For Five Hours Today, Here's Why

Jharkhand Internet Bandh: The mobile internet services in Jharkhand will be suspended across the state for over five hours tomorrow in view of the General Graduate Level Combined Competitive Examination (JGGLCCE). The decision has been taken to check for malpractice during the examination, an official statement said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

The services will be suspended from 8 AM to 1.30 PM on 21st and 22nd September, it said.

According to the official statement, the step has been taken to conduct the examination in a free, fair, and transparent manner.

"It has been observed in previous instances that some unscrupulous individuals resorted to unfair practices utilising various mobile applications, such as Facebook, WhatsApp, X (Twitter), Telegram, and YouTube, which rely on Internet/Wi-Fi connectivity," the statement reads.

"The Government of Jharkhand seeks to eliminate any loopholes in the examination process that may raise doubts in the public mind regarding the integrity of the recruitment process, potentially leading to law and order issues that could impact public safety," the statement further said.

"The Government of Jharkhand has thoroughly evaluated the situation and concluded that, in the interest of conducting a free, fair, and transparent public examination, it is both prudent and necessary to mitigate all possible loopholes by temporarily disabling mobile Internet, mobile data, and mobile Wi-Fi connectivity during examination hours on the designated days," the official statement reads.

The Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission will conduct the examination in 823 centres, with around 6.40 lakh candidates expected to appear for the test, the official statement said.

Meanwhile, the Jharkhand High Court has directed the state government to respond to petition, mentioning under which provisions the internet suspension has been announced. A division bench of justices Ananda Sen and Anubha Rawat Chaudhary was hearing the petition filed by Jharkhand State Bar Council chairman Rajendra Krishna questioning the government in keeping internet services suspended for more than five hours on Saturday.

The bench directed the government to file its response to the petition within four weeks. However, the court did not prohibit the government from suspending the internet services on September 22.