Opposed to reservations, protestors hold ‘Save Merit, Save Nation’ rally in Pune

Protest was attended by people from academia, activists, social workers and students who said that the time had come to do away with reservations in jobs and education

Slogans demanding a complete end to reservations and ‘Merit Bachao, Rashtra Bachao ’ reverberated in the air during a protest meet outside the Pune Divisional Commissionerate on Saturday morning.

Slogans demanding a complete end to reservations and ‘Merit Bachao, Rashtra Bachao ’ reverberated in the air during a protest meet outside the Pune Divisional Commissionerate on Saturday morning. (Rahul Raut/HT PHOTO)

Organised by ‘Save Merit, Save Nation (SMSN) Samiti, Pune District, the protest was attended by people from academia, activists, social workers and students who said that the time had come to do away with reservations in jobs and education.

The thousand strong supporters representing the general (unreserved) category communities vociferously opposed the Maharashtra government’s policy to exceed the limit of reservation in jobs and education up to 74 % from the existing ceiling of 50 per cent fixed by the Supreme Court.

Forum Co-ordinator Anand Dave, president of Akhil Bharitya Brahman Mahasangh, said that irrespective of relgion and beliefs, a large number of people turned out for the protest to send a strong message to the government that they were against reservations.

“We want economic reservations and believe in merit and it alone can save the nation. We are not opposed to any caste. Everybody has the right to education and it must be purely decided on merit and not on reservation. This movement is in national interest and it is completely apolitical and non-religious,” he said.

Convenor Vishwajit Deshpande said they were not against SC/ST based reservation. However, they were demanding justice and dignity for merit.

He said they were not opposed to reservations on economic criteria and felt that even in that case it should be less than 50%.

Manjusha Kulkarni , a student who participated in the protest said, “ The government should not deny justice to meritorious students. Our demand is that the reservation quota in jobs and education be restricted to 50% as per the constitution.”