Road blocked against quota move in Delhi University

New Delhi, Jun 1 (UNI) Students opposed to the 27 per cent OBC quota in centres of higher education blocked the Mall Road near Khalsa College today, shifting their protest from hospitals to the Delhi University North Campus which had witnessed anti-Mandal agitations in the early 1990s.

Nearly 100 students from Delhi University, the Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Indian Institute of Technology took out a rally and staged a demonstration on the busy road for over 30 minutes, causing a massive traffic jam.

The students, nearly three dozen of them from medical colleges, later dispersed following an appeal from the police. They also handed over a memorandum listing their demands with the area Assistant Commissioner of Police, Adityaraj Kaul of the United Student's Union said.

The protest was staged even as the sale of pre-admission forms began in the University, which reopens after the summer break on July 15.

Kaul said volunteers campaigned among the admission seekers at the Kirori Mal College, the Dean of Student's Welfare office, the Arts Faculty and the Gargi College.

With as many as 80 colleges affiliated to Delhi University, the protests are only expected to spiral once classes resume, he added.

''We are planning a bandh in the University and in other educational institutions of Delhi on July 16-17'', he informed.

Unions representing medicos had yesterday decided to ask the protestors to return to classes and work following a Supreme Court directive. They had, however, made it clear that students opposed to the quota move were free to continue their protests.

UNI VN PK RK1915