BHUBANESWAR (PTI): Sporadic incidents of violence continued unabated in coastal districts of the eastern Indian state of Orissa on the 10th day of the anti-reservation stir in the state on Aug. 18. The agitation badly hit road communication and nearly paralyzed train services, particularly in the east coast, as agitating students erected road blocks on the national and state highways and squatted on railway tracks. Bhubaneswar, the capital city, which was rocked by violence and arson, had a comparatively peaceful day now, but the authorities promulgated prohibitory orders till September 1 for the entire municipal area of the city. Official reports received here said the students took out processions shouting slogans against the government’s reservation policy in different towns, The administration in different districts had ordered the closure of colleges, in some cases schools too temporarily in a bid to defuse the situation, ‘The agitation was sparked off by the state government’s announcement of raising of the reservations for scheduled caste and scheduled tribe students in educational institutions to 38%. It was later decided that the new quota system would be implemented from next year.
Article extracted from this publication >> Aug 28, 1992
