Prayagraj: Wailing voices of protest by students protesting against Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) have last seen Prayagraj for the past four days. Police effort to disperse students gathered outside the UPPSC headquarters reached peak today as agencies removed students can forcibly. Heavy police presence, barricades and several protesters taken into custody including student leader Akshitoshi Pandey are keeping the atmosphere tense.
The protest is about the students demanding a ‘one shift, one exam’ policy over UPPSC’s recent decision of conducting PCS Prelims 2024 and RO/ARO Prelims 2023 across two shifts on two different days. But students contend this format is unfair and are fighting for a unified exam schedule to level the playing field. Additional barricades have been put around the UPPSC building to block any breaches, but students have still breached some of them, displaying their will.
Prayagraj’s District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar, Police Commissioner Tarun Gaba, UPPSC Secretary Ashok Kumar and other officials tried to talk to the student representatives outside the commission’s gate last night. After a half hour dialogue, however, no resolution is forthcoming, and tempers flare.
But some of the protesters have taken to unusual methods to speak out. On Tuesday students banged steel plates to protest UPPSC. Several others had posters which read UPPSC Chairman has gone ‘missing’ and offered a token reward of one rupee if anyone could ‘find’ him. Tuesday night’s protest centred around students hoisting candles and mobile torches while shouting slogans against both the commission and the government.
They suspect that the agitation may be being orchestrated by people from outside. Police reports indicate that three to four people have been clapped into custody on suspicion of instigating unrest and a few outsiders turned up to support the protests. The police have also closed three sides of the protest area to prevent worsening or infiltration.
Prayagraj has become a hotspot of student action; more than 20,000 students have taken part in the marches since Monday, the outcome of which could shape the outcome of the state’s exam administration policy.