Several hundred students in government colleges across
the city on Thursday boycotted classes and conducted a dharna in front
of the Pondicherry Central University demanding the implementation of 25
per cent reservation of seats to the local students of Puducherry.
The
students also urged the Union Minister for Human Resources Development
to order a probe into alleged irregularities committed by the
university.
On Thursday morning, gate protests were
held in front of eight colleges. The student leaders of the Student
Federation of India(SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI)
addressed the meetings.
Later, over 1,000 students
took out a rally from Pondicherry Engineering College to the Pondicherry
Central University administrative campus.
The march
was stopped by police posted at the entrance to the university
premises. Several students tried to push forward even as police used
force to keep them at bay. In the ensuing melee, some students managed
to gate-crash into the premises.
Around 20 protestors were arrested and released later in the evening.
The
students from Bharathidasan Government College for women, Tagore Arts
College, Pondicherry University Community College, Motilal Nehru
Government Polytechnic, Government Women’s Polytechnic College, Indira
Arts and Science College, Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Arts and Science
College, Rajiv Gandhi Arts College also participated.
According
to the students, when the Pondicherry Central University was
established in 1985, the then authorities assured of employment
opportunities to the family members of the agriculturalists who donated
land for the establishment of university.
They also
assured that 25 per cent reservation would be provided for students from
Puducherry in all courses offered in the university.
