Cops stall protesters’ plan to gherao minister’s house

Nabha, December 25
Members of the Scheduled Caste (SC), Backward Class (BC) and Lok Ekta Front, Punjab, tried to gherao the house of Social Welfare Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot in Nabha today. However the police managed to stop them a few hundred yards from the residence.
State convener of the Lok Ekta Front Avatar Singh Kainth said their main demands included implementation of 85th Amendment of the Constitution, reservation on the basis of population and 20 per cent reservation in group B, C and D, besides clearing the backlog of promotion by implementing the special promotional scheme. He said their other demands included free power supply as was being given to farmers and increase in the Shagun, old age pension schemes and unemployment allowance.
Kainth claimed that they were assured by Dharamsot to arrange a meeting of the front with the Chief Minister, adding nothing has been done in regard so far. He said a protest was staged as there was great resentment among the SC/BC employees. He said they would be forced to intensify their protest if the state government did not convene a meeting with the front. He warned that they would be holding a protest at the Chief Minister’s residence.