Talks between the Jharkhand government and student groups protesting alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations failed to break the deadlock on Saturday.

A five-member government panel met the faction led by JLKM leader Devendra Nath Mahto, whose hunger strike entered its seventh day, followed by separate meetings with delegations of the Congress-backed NSUI, Adivasi Chhatra Sangh (ACS), and Jharkhand Chhatra Morcha (JCM). “Demands of protesting aspirants are genuine; we will place these before CM Hemant Soren,” state minister Sanjay Prasad Yadav said.