UPSC row: Rajya Sabha adjourned, Delhi sees violent protests

There was ruckus in both houses of Parliament as it convened this morning over alleged discrimination in the UPSC aspirants civil services exam, forcing Rajya Sabha to be adjourned till 12 pm. [caption id=“attachment_1634211” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] Protesting aspirants, who say that the civil service exam is discriminating and should therefore be scrapped, have begun their march to Parliament have been detained by the Parliament street police station. According to the protesters, the Civil Services Aptitude Test discriminates against Hindi language aspirants, as more weightage is given to English comprehension questions. The UPSC, however, has started issuing admit cards for the preliminary examination scheduled for 24 August. Stepping out of Parliament, Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh said the Congress would back the protesters and fight against discrimination. “Congress will support them, both inside and outside Parliament,” Singh told reporters. The Samajwadi Party was more vocal in criticising the Modi administration with its parliamentarians saying, “Prime Minister must issue a statement on UPSC row. Modi government has cheated UPSC aspirants by not fulfilling demands. Modi had promised a solution to the UPSC language row, but he didn’t deliver.” On Thursday night, hundreds of Civil Services aspirants clashed with police, set several vehicles including a police jeep on fire, and indulged in stone-pelting in North Delhi’s Burari area, leaving at least 10 policemen injured. According to Joint Commissioner of Police Sandeep Goel, the incident took place at around 8.30 pm when about 500 to 700 protesters tried to block the main highway by-pass road, demanding scrapping of Civil Services Aptitude Test (CSAT). “A police jeep was set on fire. One state roadways bus was partially burnt in the incident along with some bikes and cars. Police used force to disperse them from main roads,” Goel said. Police resorted to use of tear gas and lathicharge to disperse the protesters.