Campus Times | Lucknow 

The youth organisation Justice Morcha on Monday held a press conference at the Lucknow Press Club, where it highlighted concerns over education, employment, recruitment delays, examination irregularities and equal opportunities for young people in Uttar Pradesh.

The organisation said it has begun a statewide campaign to engage with students, unemployed youth, teachers, parents and other sections of society and bring their concerns into public discussion.

The campaign will begin with a statewide public outreach drive on August 12, which coincides with International Youth Day. According to the organisation, the initiative will involve direct interaction with young people and discussions on issues related to education, government recruitment, competitive examinations and employment opportunities.

As part of the campaign, a cycle march will begin from Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur on August 20 and conclude in Lucknow on October 2. During the journey, members of the organisation plan to meet students, teachers, parents, unemployed youth and social groups and raise education- and employment-related issues at the local level.

The organisation said the campaign will continue for around 50 days and cover all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh. More than 800 colleges, universities and coaching institutes are expected to be covered through street meetings, student-youth interactions and public dialogue programmes.

Justice Morchas 10 key demands

At the press conference, the organisation placed the following 10 demands before the government:

1. Annual recruitment calendar: An annual calendar for recruitment examinations should be published, with all competitive examinations conducted within fixed timelines.

2. Filling vacant government posts: All sanctioned but vacant government posts should be filled immediately.

3. Completion of pending recruitments: All pending recruitment processes should be completed without further delay and appointments should be made within a defined timeframe.

4. Withdrawal of NEP 2020: The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 should be withdrawn.

5. Transparency in examinations: The examination process should be made fully transparent. The normalisation system should be discontinued and candidates should receive detailed scorecards.

6. End contractual employment practices: Contractual and outsourced employment practices should be stopped, with equal pay ensured for equal work.

7. Fee cap for private schools: A maximum fee limit should be introduced to prevent arbitrary fee increases by private schools.

8. Withdrawal of cases against protesters: Cases registered against students and teachers who participated in protests over paper leaks should be withdrawn.

9. Abolition of NTA: The National Testing Agency (NTA) should be abolished and replaced with a more transparent and accountable system for conducting competitive examinations.

10. Equal fellowships for research scholars: A uniform fellowship system should be ensured for all research scholars to eliminate discrimination and provide equal opportunities in research.

The organisation said the campaign would seek to connect individual grievances with broader concerns surrounding the states education and employment system. It also aims to build wider public participation around issues concerning recruitment transparency, educational opportunities and the future of young people in Uttar Pradesh.

Those present at the press conference included Sudhanshu, Arpita, Govind, Devesh, Priyesh, Mrityunjay, Vishal, Vivek, Brijesh, Avnish, Mahendra, Sufi, Raghav, Satyam and Neeraj.