HYDERABAD: Hundreds of Group-I aspirants marched towards the Secretariat on Saturday, demanding the rescheduling of mains exams amid ongoing uncertainties. The protest, which marked its fourth day, saw police detaining several protesters and politicians, including Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay.
The protests intensified when the minister engaged with the candidates at Ashoknagar. He climbed onto a car to address the protesters, leading to his preventive custody by the police.
With exams scheduled for Monday, many protesters rallied with placards, voicing concerns over GO 29. They argued that the GO undermines fair reservation rights of students from SC, ST and BC communities and urging the government to reschedule the exam.
Aspirants write to chief secretary
The aspirants wrote a letter to the Telangana Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari outlining their concerns and criticising the police for using force against peaceful protesters. “Allow us to voice our grievances without fear of violence or retaliation,” the letter stated.
In response, Telangana Director General of Police Jitender cited a court order and stated that they were merely implementing the orders. “If there are grievances, they can appeal to a higher court. They are causing inconvenience to the general public, what do we do?” he remarked. Later in the day, BRS leader RS Praveen Kumar joined the protest but was also detained. He condemned GO 29 as unconstitutional, alleging: “It’s a conspiracy to reserve the open category posts only to the rich among upper castes and cronies”.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy urged the aspirants to withdraw their protests and take the exams, asserting GO 29 was intended to ensure justice for all and had court backing.