Job aspirants hold protest in Dharwad; Chief Minister explains reasons for recruitment delay

Job seekers protest in Dharwad; Chief Minister addresses recruitment delays citing previous government inaction and ongoing challenges.

Hundreds of young job aspirants held a massive protest in Dharwad on Tuesday, forcing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to issue a release acknowledging their concerns and elaborating on the causes for the delay in recruitments.

Youngsters, mainly those who had enrolled themselves in competitive examination coaching centres in Dharwad, started the protest on a peaceful note, but the situation escalated as police efforts to restrain them from taking out a rally went in vain and the decision to detain their leader Kanthakumar backfired.

The enraged protesters tore up and burnt posters and banners of the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister, and Ministers. The banners of BJP leaders, erected in support of the protest, also bore the brunt of their anger, as the protesters were keen to keep their stir non-partisan. They raised “go back” slogans against Leaders of the Opposition in the Assembly and Council R. Ashok and Chalavadi Narayanaswamy.

The protest concluded with Mr. Kanthakumar submitting a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner R. Snehal, who assured the protestors of forwarding it to the government.

The Chief Minister, in his release, stated that the massive backlog of 2.65 lakh posts was “the result of prolonged inaction under the previous BJP government.“ He alleged that the saffron party was now “attempting to instigate unrest.”

He claimed that the present situation was largely a consequence of the series of recruitment irregularities and corruption scandals between 2019 and 2023, which eroded trust in the system and resulted in a massive backlog of vacancies. Legal challenges surrounding internal reservation added to the problem and any decision in a rush would jeopardise the careers of thousands of candidates, he said in the release.