Delhi University on Friday witnessed the first massive protest against the OBC reservations, with hundreds of students taking to the roads. The march, which began from the Arts faculty, culminated in front of the vice-chancellor’s office with students handing over an eight-point memorandum.
There were however tense moments, when students tried to gatecrash into the university’s administration block demanding that the V-C talk to them. They had to be pushed back by a battery of policemen who finally allowed student representatives to hand over the memo.
The protest was organised under the aegis of Youth for Equality. “The HRD Ministry’s decision is ridiculous. How can students be judged on the basis of their caste instead of merit?” asked Swapnil, a student of KMC College. “This decision will surely ruin our future.
The protest was organised under the aegis of Youth for Equality. “The HRD Ministry’s decision is ridiculous. How can students be judged on the basis of their caste instead of merit?” asked Swapnil, a student of KMC College. “This decision will surely ruin our future.
The government has talked about increasing seats, but where is the infrastructure?” The students were joined by some academicians, research scholars and their counterparts from other universities.
“Isn’t reservation a reserved discrimination against students by the government? Our plans for a protest march were disrupted because of the ongoing examinations,” said Harish, a resident of Ramjas College Hostel.
In their memo, students have demanded rollback of extra reservation, conducting of a caste base census with rational indicators of social and economic backwardness.
They have demanded establishment of a judicial commission to give a definition of social and educational backwardness and development of parameters for defining creamy layers in OBC.