New recruitment rules, casteist comments trigger student protests

RANCHI: Students of reserved categories (SC, ST and OBC) studying in different departments and affiliated colleges of Ranchi University on Thursday gheraoed the vice-chancellor’s office at Shahid Chowk campus as part of the nationwide protests against the 13-point roster system.
Around a hundred students accompanied by contractual professors of the university raised slogans against the Supreme Court’s ruling on the implementation of the 13-point roster and urged the lawmakers to bring back the 200-point roster system for recruitment of teachers in universities across India.
Niranjan Mahato, a contractual teacher of Santhali language at the Ranchi University’s department of Tribal Regional Languages said: “The new roster rules consider a college or a department as a unit against the earlier 200-point roster which took the entire university as a unit. The new 13-point roster system results in fewer reserved seats for us.”
“This protest was to mark our discontent with the new system, that will reduce the number of reserved seats in university recruitments. We want the old system of the 200-point roster back,” said Subash Sahu, a protesting student.
Meanwhile, a section of students of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University staged a protest outside the campus after a video, allegedly showing some students making casteist slogans on campus, surfaced on social media.
Wearing placards marked ‘I am a Brahmin. I am not a terrorist’, the students approached vice-chancellor S N Munda with the complaint. Shukla assured them to look into the matter. Bhagwat Kumar, a protesting student leader, said, “Several derogatory slogans were raised during a demonstration at the campus on Wednesday and some offensive graffitis were also put up on the wall. We met the V-C and the dean of student welfare (DSW)and handed over an official complaint.”
DSW Namita Kumari said: “We will form a disciplinary team and look into the issue. Action will be taken against those found guilty.”