Hyderabad: Tension gripped the Telangana Secretariat on Friday as police detained members of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi Vidyarthi (BRSV) and the Unemployed Joint Action Committee (JAC) before their “Chalo Secretariat” protest seeking release of the delayed job calendar.
Protesters alleged the Congress-led government had failed to keep its promise of filling two lakh jobs per year and questioned the delay in executing last year’s announced recruitment schedule.
As demonstrators moved toward the Secretariat, police installed barricades and prevented them from entering the premises. Heated exchanges broke out between activists and security forces, briefly disrupting traffic flow around the complex.
Police had deployed personnel from early morning, detaining several leaders in advance overnight and picking up more on Friday as protests escalated. Those detained were shifted to nearby police stations.
The vicinity of the Secretariat stayed under tight security with entry points heavily regulated throughout the day.
The protest followed a meeting last week between BRS senior leader and MLA T. Harish Rao and a group of unemployed youth at Telangana Bhavan. Harish Rao had publicly pledged support to their agitation and endorsed the “Chalo Secretariat” action demanding release of the job calendar without further delay.