Telangana: Revanth faces first major hurdle as job-seekers go on protest

Reminiscent of the days of the Telangana movement, thousands of unemployed youths staged a midnight protest at Hyderabad’s RTC Cross Roads on July 13, demanding the postponement of TGPSC’s Group-2 and Group 3 exams till December and an increase in the number of vacancies to be filled.

The protest, which began at 8 p.m., continued until midnight, causing a traffic jam. As the news spread, hundreds of unemployed youths came out of their hostels in Dilsukhnagar, Ashok Nagar, LB Nagar, and Ameerpet, areas where coaching centres are located, to join the protest, raising slogans against Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s government.

This, in turn, inspired another group of unemployed youths — aspirants of DSC (District Selection Committee for teachers) — to stage a sit-in protest in the middle of roads, demanding a postponement of their exams scheduled to be held from July 18. The Osmania University Students’ Joint Action Committee (JAC) tried to lay siege to the secretariat.

Iron fist, not a warm touch

After a gap of 10 years, the Telangana capital is reverberating with protests. The police have been posted at many junctions in the city, clearly showing the government’s intent to depend more on force rather than negotiating with the youth.

It is generally believed that unemployed youths, angry with the BRS government’s failure to fulfil its commitment to fill the vacancies in the government, campaigned for the Congress in the Assembly elections held in November 2023.

Buoyed by the widespread discontent among the youth, the Congress promised the moon to them. Rahul Gandhi was brought to Hyderabad and an interaction was arranged with unemployed youths so as to reassure them that the Congress would not go back on the assurances given to them, such as providing two lakh jobs in the first year, releasing a job calendar, and distributing allowances among unemployed youth.

Unkept promises

But where are those two lakh jobs AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge promised to provide in one year while releasing the party manifesto? That’s the question the protesting youths are asking.

To fulfil the promises at least partially by December, the government has crammed all the exams in a period of just four months. The DSC exams will be held between July 18 and August 4. From August 8, the exams for Group 2 will commence. Then, Group 3 exams are scheduled for November.

But many students are appearing for all the exams, and they want a minimum gap between the exams for the different categories of jobs. They also want more vacancies to be filled. Nearly four lakh students are expected to write these exams.

Demand for more jobs

“As the Pradesh Congress Committee president, Ravanth Reddy promised a mega DSC for 25,000 teacher posts. After coming to power, he has backed out. The exams are being conducted for not even half of the posts. We want more posts and the exams to be postponed,” said Ch Praveena, an aspiring teacher.

Similarly, students who are appearing for Group 2 demand the inclusion of another 2,000 vacancies to the 783 released so far. Group 3 aspirants also want an increase in the number of posts by another 3,000 along with the postponement of the exams from August to November.

“Group 3 exams are scheduled in November. Since the syllabus for Group 3 and Group 2 is identical, we don’t require much time to prepare for them. Now, we have to write Group 2 exams just four days after the DSC. It is not practicable, as many got centres allotted in different districts. So, we want Group 2 to be deferred to December,” said a protesting youth.

Blame on Opposition

Revanth Reddy, who thought he had tamed the angry youth with his assurances, was bewildered by their sudden outburst. He alleged that the Opposition Bharata Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and the coaching centres are instigating the students against the government.

“With a month’s postponement, these centres will earn about Rs 100 crore. BRS leaders KT Ramarao and Harish Rao are trying to rebuild their party by inciting the youth, as their party was rejected by the people,” he told party workers in Mahabubnagar on July 10.

But the youth differed with his claims. They said there was no political party behind their simple demand, i.e. the postponement of the exams. It is only so that they get enough time to prepare, they said.

Need for compassion

“Since there has been no recruitment for 10 years, everybody wants to write every exam. Imagine the exam load on the youth,” said of them, asserting that it is a genuine agitation. The government needs to look at their demand with compassion, he added.

The same sentiment was expressed by Kanneganti Ravi of the Rythu Swarajya Vedika, an organization that has supported the students in the struggle. Ravi said it was wrong to brand any anti-government agitation as one engineered by the Opposition.

“The Opposition BJP and BRS do try to take advantage of the genuine discontent among the unemployed youth. However, heckling youth leaders and insulting unemployed youths as stooges of the Opposition will only worsen the situation,” Ravi cautioned the government.

Solution in dialogue, not baton

Civil rights leader Prof. G Haragopal also advised the government against using police force on the students. “The government should immediately open a dialogue with the youth and try to understand the problem before denying their right to be heard,” he said.

On the other hand, BRS working president KT Ramarao accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of insulting the students and the unemployed instead of fulfilling his promises made during the election campaign.

“The same Revanth Reddy, who went around coaching centres to instigate the youth against the BRS government before the Assembly elections, now alleges that coaching centres are responsible for the unrest. The Congress government has ignored its promise of providing jobs to the youth,” he said, demanding that the CM come out with a white paper on job notifications and a job calendar.