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OU students rally for instant quota

[ Thursday, May 25, 2006 03:28:26 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ] HYDERABAD:
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Students of Osmania University have demanded that the OBC reservation approved by the Union government should be implemented from the current academic year (2006-07) itself and not the next, as proposed by the government.
The Tuesday night's decision by the government to implement 27 per cent quota for OBCs in top educational institutes like IITs, IIMs and central universities across the country was hailed by BC students and professors of the university, but at the same time they demanded that the reservation be implemented from this academic year itself.
Hundreds of students of the university took out a rally from Arts College to Tarnaka and staged a rasta roko there on Wednesday morning.
As they were holding up traffic, the police stepped in and asked them not to resort to such measures. Moreover, they did not have permission to take out a rally, the police added.
"I reasoned with the agitating students that their demonstration should not inconvenience others and since they did not have the permission to stage the dharna, they had to leave.
The protesters obliged," said P Narsimhulu, circle inspector, Osmania University. "We read in the newspapers that the quota will be implemented in 2007 after a bill to this effect is passed in the monsoon session of Parliament...
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But we want the BC quota be implemented this academic year, at least in IITs and IIMs, where the admissions process will begin shortly.
As it is, despite having a constitutional amendment to implement the quota long back, pressure from upper castes has prevented the government in doing so until now.
We do not want any more delays, since the government has already decided on giving the quota," said BC Students' Union state president Rajaram Yadav, who was part of the demonstration.
Yadav and his fellow protesters said that if the government plans to increase the seats in general category, even those seats should be considered for quota.
That is, if there is 27 per cent reservation in 100 seats and 50 more seats are added in the general category, 27 per cent quota should be given to them in the increased 50 seats as well.
Meanwhile, anti-reservation lobbies are using the wireless network to spread their message far and wide. Phones are buzzing with messages.
Several unconfirmed reports and rumours of deaths of agitating doctors are being SMSed country wide, exhorting people to fight reservation.
While some messages talk of alleged death of two doctors after during an anti-reservation rally, some others are in lighter vein and say "majority of persons who may be drowning in an 'Indian Titanic' will not be saved, because most of the life boats will be reserved for SC/STs and BCs