NEW DELHI, 23 August 2006 — Under the banner, “Youth for Equality” (YFE), students and medicos took to streets again yesterday, after a three-month gap, in protest against the Cabinet clearing a bill providing reservation of seats for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes in elite central educational institutions, from next academic year. The bill was cleared by the Cabinet this Monday after a two-hour special meeting, to be introduced in the current session of Parliament, the last day of which is Aug. 25.
Police fired tear gas and used water canons to disperse student protesters here yesterday.
The draft law will boost the number of university places for lower caste candidates to 49.5 percent from 22.5 percent.
Lower castes account for about 77 percent of the 1.1 billion population.
The protesters say the move does not reward merit and will reduce their chances of securing places for higher education if the law is passed by Parliament.
Yesterday, hundreds of students began marching to the house of Sonia Gandhi, the powerful head of the ruling Congress party, to lodge their protest.
They broke through a police cordon which led to a scuffle with policemen. Police fired tear gas shells and used water canons to push the students back.
A leaflet distributed by the protesters said a nationwide strike would be launched within 24 hours of a bill being tabled.
The bill is expected to be placed before parliament this week.
The controversial proposal, which faced similar nationwide protests when it was first mooted four months ago, affects federally-funded universities, medical, engineering and management schools.
Impoverished and underdeveloped India introduced reservations for the lower castes soon after independence from Britain in 1947, but the present bill widens the scope of earlier laws.
