Mohammad Junaid Malik, known for supplying food to student protesters at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar for 35 days, has begun supporting job-seeking students protesting in Ranchi, Jharkhand. The 30-year-old LLB student from Ghaziabad is arranging food and other necessities for demonstrators who have been protesting for two weeks over alleged irregularities in recruitment examinations. Malik said breakfast and regular meals were being organized for the protesters.

Malik said the effort was collective rather than his alone, with his full volunteer team arriving in Ranchi from Delhi and more people expected to join. He also said vegetarian biryani was planned for distribution in the evening. Citing persistent rain, he warned that waterlogging at the protest site could increase mosquito breeding and the risk of disease. He urged Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren to consider the students’ demands seriously and resolve the matter quickly.

The protest reached its 14th day on Friday, with six demonstrators on an indefinite hunger strike and one hospitalized after his condition worsened. Five more people, including two women, joined the fast on Tuesday night alongside JLK M leader Devendra Nath Mahato, who had been fasting for six days. Protesters formed an 11-member delegation, but said they had received no formal invitation despite the chief minister saying talks remained open.