Thousands of students and job-seekers staged a massive protest on Wednesday in Patna demanding implementation of a domicile policy that would reserve 90% of government jobs for state residents.
Despite the rain in Patna, they started the march from Patna College towards the Chief Minister’s house, but police stopped them at the Dak Bungalow intersection.
Led by youth leader Dilip, the protesters alleged that non-residents are taking jobs meant for the people of Bihar while they face linguistic discrimination outside the state. They blamed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and vowed to intensify their demonstrations unless a domicile policy is enacted.
Students have been frequently staging protests in Patna demanding Nitish Kumar to accept their request. They have also warned the government to face the consequences if their requests are not heard as youth have the potential to influence the next Bihar assembly elections.
They repeated it once again by raising the slogan ‘no domicile no vote” at today’s demonstration.
As the assembly elections are coming closer, the demand for a domicile policy has gained momentum. Earlier in June too, students and job aspirants took to the streets of Patna demanding immediate implementation of a domicile policy in government job recruitment ensuring priority to candidates possessing local residence certificates.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has announced that within a month of coming to power, he will implement a 100% domicile policy in government jobs.
He has also promised to form a youth commission for the benefit of the youth, besides waiving the fee charged for Bihar government recruitment examinations.
Last year, a youth parliament was organised in Patna, where the Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor had raised the demand for a domicile policy in Bihar. He had also advocated that Biharis should have first rights over jobs in the state.