Students’ hunger strike enters Day 6

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 30
The hunger strike by students at Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) entered its sixth day here on Tuesday. Though they had reached an agreement over the demand for revival of the admission quota for students hailing from border and rural areas, the students later announced that the strike would continue.
Three students of the university and members of the student organisation — Sathh, Jaskaran Singh Zira, Karanveer Singh Virk and Gurvinder Singh Varpal — have been sitting on the hunger strike for the last six days, demanding the revival of reservation in admission in the university for wards of families affected during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and border belt areas. Considering their demands, the VC, GNDU, Prof Dr Jaspal Singh Sandhu, had invited them on Monday to resolve the matter.
“We had reached an agreement on the demand for revival of admission quota, which was in place till 2017. The VC had assured us that he will write to the higher education department and the Punjab Government, seeking for its revival. But later, the letter that we received, where the GNDU registrar has written to Kamal Kishore Yadav, Administrative Secretary, Department of Higher Education, where the university is seeking approval as it cited that it cannot break the ceiling of 50 per cent reservation set by the Supreme Court of India. We believe that they are trying to mislead as they can accommodate the reservation we are seeking, without violating the SC ruling on reservation,” said Jaskaran Singh Zira.
Meanwhile, the letter addressed to Administrative Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Punjab, Kamal Kishore Yadav by Prof KS Kahlon, Registrar, GNDU, today states that ‘Guru Nanak Dev University, being located in border area, primarily does not have reservation for candidates for rural/border areas following the policy notified by the Department of Higher Education. It further states that the university is not allowed to create additional seats, which would break the ceiling of 50% reservation set by the SC.
Although the letter also seeks advice and permission from the Department of Higher Education to create additional seats for rural and border area students, the students shared that this exercise is an attempt to hush the matter. Meanwhile, Simranjeet Singh Mann, SAD (A), visited the protesting students this evening.
Box: The reservation was abolished for students after 2017. Seven per cent seats were reserved for students from rural belt, three per cent for the border areas and two per cent for students belonging to 1984 anti-Sikh riot-affected families in the university admissions. Since 2017, this reservation has been converted to ex-servicemen quota.