Student climbs tower against reservations

​Vijayawada: Disturbed over the ongoing issues with regard to the reservation of Backward Castes and Scheduled Castes, an engineering student who is a resident of Maruthi Nagar, climbed up a microwave tower near Gunadala here on Wednesday. He demanded that government refrain from encouraging reservation among candidates basing on their caste.

Ravi Teja, who climbed up the tower, asked the government to implement reservations based on economic status of the candidates or offer 10 per cent marks as bonus to students in competitive entrance examinations to poor and those who hail from rural areas.
He, along with four of his friends planned to protest against caste-based reservation system.

While Ravi climbed up the tower, rest of them displayed a banner of their demands and raised slogans. Ravi Teja was on the tower for close to three hours and threatened police personnel who pleaded him to come down. He spoke to his friends over phone before police took him into custody following assurances of MLA Gadde Rammohan, who came to the spot.

“Reservation system has darkened the future of many students who are unable to achieve goals. People from lower castes, irrespective of merit are benefited from the policies. Whereas, the fate of the people who don’t belong to any caste that doesn’t come under reservations is hanging in balance.

It is high time that government decides reservations on the basis of economic status,” said Ravi Teja. He further opined that Janasena Chief Pawan Kalyan speak on the party’s stand on reservation system and other burning issues pertaining to the State.