Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar might well have lauded the Railway Budget of Mamata Banerjee, and made common cause with her against her predecessor, Lalu Prasad, but students in Barh ? Nitish?s home turf ? on Monday gave a thumbs down to the new railway minister?s policy of ?50% reservation to locals?.
Banerjee had announced that locals would get 50% reservation in railways jobs.
Over 300 students sat on the railway tracks at Barh disrupting rail traffic from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm. The agitated students also pelted stones at the police injuring two constables. Manoj Kumar, studying in Barh, said: ?Bihar students are known to get jobs anywhere in the country. The new reservation policy would curtail opportunities for us?.
Shantanu Kumar, doing his graduation in arts, said: ?Our CM says that Biharis can get jobs if there happens to be an examination on the moon but the new railway reservation policy would shrink jobs for us in the country?.
The students wanted the Bihar CM to take up the matter with the Union railway minister.
While the chief minister has not stated his views on the matter, a JD-U leader conceded the party might not wish to go against Banerjee. The leader, however, decried the ?regionalism? yardstick for railway jobs.