The Hindu : New Delhi News : Students' march to Parliament today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 17, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Students' march to Parliament today

Staff Reporter

Centre accused of diluting Employment Guarantee Bill

NEW DELHI: Accusing the Union Government of diluting the Employment Guarantee Bill that was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the All India Students' Association (AISA) has announced a protest march to Parliament on Wednesday.

Criticising the Bill, AISA said the Government's silence on the Supreme Court judgment scrapping Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes quotas in private institutions was also not acceptable.

Demanding enactment of a free and compulsory education law that would ensure a common system guaranteeing affordable schooling of equitable quality for children, AISA pointed out that in the draft of the Free and Compulsory Education Bill prepared by the Central Advisory Board for Education Committee, the Central Government is not responsible for funding the same.

The protest demonstration on Wednesday would see students from different parts of the country including Allahabad University, Banaras Hindu University, Lucknow University, Bihar, Assam, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Bengal and Delhi take part in the event, it was stated.

"Instead of job guarantee throughout the year, the Employment Guarantee Bill proposed by the UPA is limited to just 100 days of employment. It is also restricted to rural areas -- that too for 200 districts only which includes 150 districts already under food for work programmes.

Instead of admitting all adult members, it provides jobs only for one member per family -- even if the family has 20 members," the AISA release said.

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