Jharkhand bandh: Students' bodies hit streets demanding 100 pc reservation in jobs for locals

Members of the Jharkhand State Students' Union (JSSU) protested in Ranchi's Morabadi area, burning tyres on the road. They also went to the nearby vegetable market asking vendors to shut their shops.

Jharkhand State Students' Union (JSSU) members burning tyres on the road (Photo | Mukesh_Tnie @ Twitter) 

RANCHI: Seeking 100 per cent reservation for locals in government jobs, members of different student organisations took to the streets to enforce a state-wide 'bandh' on Wednesday. They blocked the Ranchi-Patna highway and Adityapur toll plaza in Jamshedpur.

Earlier, the students forced the vendors at the weekly Morhabdi vegetable market to close their shops and vandalised some of them. City DSP Deepak Kumar, already present there, dispersed the crowd by using light force. Though the students are trying to impose a bandh in other districts too, normal life remained unaffected.

Notably, the students’ union has been demanding the implementation of an employment policy based on land records (Khatiyan) and the scrapping of the 60:40 ratio based on employment policy, according to which, 60 per cent of seats are reserved for the candidates of categories belonging to the state whereas 40 per cent of the available positions are designated for candidates from other states.

The three-day protest of students’ organisation under the banner of Jharkhand State Students’ Union (JSSU) was kicked off on Monday with ‘gherao’ of CM House. After Gherao, the JSSU organised a torchlight procession on Tuesday seeking support from people for Jharkhand Bandh which was called on Wednesday.