Job aspirants to participate in padayatra in Dharwad on December 8

Demanding immediate steps to fill up various vacant posts in different government departments in Karnataka, hundreds of job aspirants will participate in a ‘silent foot march’ in Dharwad on December 8.

The protest will be held under the aegis of All Karnataka Students’ Association, which had earlier held a protest in Dharwad on the same issue in the month of September.

Addressing press persons in Dharwad on December 5, Association president Kanthakumar said that after the September protest, the government of Karnataka had relaxed the age limit for some recruitments, but is yet to fulfil the other demands. “As a result, we are forced to stage an agitation again on December 8. Subsequently, we plan to stage a protest before Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi on December 11.”

Kanthakumar said that thousands of unemployed young men and women from rural areas had somehow managed funds to get into coaching institutions to prepare for various competitive examinations. But their years of efforts were going waste as the government had failed to fill vacancies on the pretext of implementing internal reservation. As the recruitments had been held up for the last two years, job aspirants were facing hardships, he said.

He said the association would urge the government to immediately set up five Indira Canteens in Dharwad, where thousands of students had enrolled for coaching. “We want the government to make permanent the increase in the age limit for the recruitment to police constable posts to 33 years for SC, ST, OBC, and 30 years for GM category. Recruitments for posts of PSTR, GPSTR, HSTR, physical education teachers, PU lecturers and assistant lecturers should be initiated immediately. This apart, considering the mix-up in KAS examination by KPSC, the government should conduct re-examination,” he said.

He urged the government to ensure transparency in the recruitment to various posts in various departments, which were due since long. “If the demands were not met, then the job aspirants would be forced to intensify the agitation,” he said.