Guwahati: More than 500 youths from different districts of the state participated in a demonstration organised by the All Assam Scheduled Caste Students’ Union at Lakshidhar Bora Khetra here on Thursday.

The organisation raised a number of demands during the demonstration and inclu-ded them in a memorandum addressed to Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

The demands include setting up of a Scheduled Caste (SC) state commission to deliberate on the social, economic and other rights of the SCs in the state similar to the ones set up in other states; establishment of an empowered committee to renew the SC certificates and discuss a new and clear system for the issue of new ones; regularisation of scholarships to SC students and doubling of the amount of such scholarships; granting of land to the SC people who are rendered landless by floods and erosion; filling of all vacant posts reserved for SCs and promotion of state government employees based on the reservation system; regularisation of Safai employees’ jobs; to strictly follow the SC and Scheduled Tribe (ST) reservation policy and implement the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989; to include all SCs in the updated draft NRC on the basis of the March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date and stop atrocities on SCs by labelling them “D” voters; to implement schemes for the welfare of SCs and stop the misuse of funds meant for SCs; reservation of seats for SCs in BTC parishads and construction of a modern “kalakshetra” in memory of Sati Radhika.

The demonstration by the students’ union was supported by Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi. 
Gogoi exhorted the union to fight for the rights of the SC community in the state.