Karnataka - Gulbarga   

Traffic disrupted as students block road seeking quota

Special Correspondent

GULBARGA: Traffic from Vallabhbhai Patel Chowk to the city central bus stand remained disrupted for more than two hours due to a rasta roko by students of the Industrial Training Centre (ITC) run by Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) and members of the All India Students Federation (AISF) demanding restoration of reservation for ITC-trained candidates in recruitment to KPTCL and electricity supply companies in the State.

There was tension near the Rashtrapathi Chowk for some time when the students rejected the police appeal to call off their agitation. The students insisted that they would end their stir only after Deputy Commissioner Pankajkumar Pandey visited the spot and received a memorandum from them.

Road users were the most affected as the police remained mute witness to the agitation on an important road connecting the city to the central bus stand. Bus services were disrupted and most of the buses leaving for Shahapur, Jewargi, Surpur, Aland, Chincholi, Sedam, Chitapur and other taluk headquarters were inordinately delayed. Later, the students withdrew their strike after senior police officials appealed to them stating that the Deputy Commissioner was busy at another programme but had agreed to accept their memorandum at his office.

The students, who launched a relay hunger strike on December 26 in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office, said that they were forced to intensify their agitation as the Government had not responded to their genuine demands. They wanted the Government to restore reservation for trained ITC students in recruitment to KPTCL and the electricity supply companies.

They alleged that the H.D. Kumaraswamy Government had changed the recruitment rules framed by the N. Dharam Singh Government and invited applications for filling several posts in KPTCL and the electricity supply companies without providing any reservation for trained ITC candidates.

The memorandum said that the Government should provide at least 50 per cent reservation to ITC-trained candidates in recruitments to KPTCL and the electricity supply companies.

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