About 40 DSC-2012 selected reserve category candidates, including some women, on Thursday locked themselves up on the terrace of the Telugu Sameksha Bhavan situated at Masab Tank here demanding that they be issued appointment orders in supernumerary category.
As the agitators refused to end the sit-in even after an assurance from minister for secondary education K Parthasarathi, the police forcefully opened the terrace door and took the agitators into the custody. The drama lasted for more than 10 hours.
The agitators sneaked into the Bhavan around 6 a.m., locked themselves up on its terrace and started shouting slogans for their appointment under the supernumerary category. Caught off guard, the Bhavan security personnel informed the social welfare department officials and the police. The police reached the spot and started requesting them to get down but the agitators refused to do so.
The officials then contacted the minister for secondary education, who was in Vijayawada and the latter sent a fax assuring the agitators that the matter would be taken up by the state Cabinet soon and that a positive decision would emerge. Not convinced by this, the agitators continued their sit-in. Around 6 p.m., the police broke open the terrace door and arrested the agitators.
Meanwhile, TDP MLA Suman Rathod met the agitators and assured them that she would take up the issue in the coming monsoon session of the state Assembly.
TJAC leader Devi Prasad, BC Welfare Association president R Krishaiah and MRPS president Manda Krishna Madiga visited the place and extended their support to the agitators.
According to DSC-2012 struggle committee convenor Ramanjaneyulu, the state government had declared the list of selected candidates of DSC-2012 on December 1, 2012 and counseling and certificate verification were done between December 3 and 10. But on December 22, GO No 8 was issued by the government due to which about 976 SC, ST, BC and Minorities candidates lost their jobs. He said according to GO No 8 reserved category candidates who got higher marks were also accommodated in the reserve category whereas as per the GO NO 91 the reserve category candidates who get higher marks were supposed to be accommodated in the open category. He said due to GO No 8 eligible candidates who were selected earlier did not find place in the final list of the selected candidates.
“We have been fighting with the government for the last 6 months and have taken up agitation programmes, but still we are not getting concrete assurance from the government. This is the second time we have locked up ourselves in this building”, he said.
He added : “In February, the secondary education minister assured us that appointment orders will be issued within a week’s time but till now nothing has been done in this regard.”.
He said the agitation would continue till the government issued appointment orders to the eligible candidates.
