Students from across universities in Delhi held a demonstration outside Shastri Bhavan here on Thursday, demanding a roll back of the hike in Metro fares and concessional passes for them.
The protesters, comprising students from the Delhi University (DU), Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the Indraprashtha University (IPU), blocked traffic outside the building that houses many important ministries including the Human Resource Development (HRD).
Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel were deployed there in large numbers to avoid any untoward incident.
While a delegation of students went to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to present a charter of demands, the rest of the students denounced the Centre with in their slogans, berating it, among other things, for cutting seats in the central civil services and research.
Delhi University students on 3 February had formed a human chain at Rajiv Chowk Metro Station to create awareness regarding the latest hike in metro fare.
This year in January, the DU students protested outside Vishwavidyalaya Metro station of the Delhi Metro Rail Cooperation (DMRC) to demand rollback of hike in metro fare.
The protest was organised by AISA (All India’s Student Association), a Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist affiliated group, which the group had termed “Occupy Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station”.