Patna: More than 5,000 Bihar Police driver aspirants gathered at the Gardanibagh protest site on Sunday, beating plates, drums and tin sheets and raising slogans to press their demand for filling more than 1,200 vacant women’s quota seats. The protesters warned of intensifying their agitation and said they would not leave without a written assurance from the govt. They have been staging a sit-in for 51 days, alleging repeated assurances from authorities without any resolution.The protest turned noisy as demonstrators sat on the road, beat utensils and struck the site’s gate with makeshift instruments. They also briefly surrounded a vehicle belonging to a medical officer of the health department, preventing it from leaving. The officer later turned the vehicle around and drove away.A five-member delegation met chief secretary (CS) Pratyaya Amrit to press their demand. The candidates said they would continue the agitation until they received a written assurance.“We have performed pujas, conducted havans and offered prayers, but nothing has changed. Now it is a fight to the finish. We will leave only after securing the seats,” said Krishna Nandan, one of the protesters.He said the candidates had cleared three stages of examinations, including written and physical tests, but were still awaiting a resolution.Another aspirant, Aditya, said the protesters had written to legislators from all 243 assembly constituencies. He also claimed he raised the issue with CM Samrat Choudhary during Durga Puja in Munger, but the CM said he was unaware of the matter.Ankit Kumar said, “The candidates had received assurances from the government but were tired of waiting.”The protesters’ central demand is that vacant women’s quota seats be considered for eligible male candidates, subject to recruitment rules. They warned of intensifying the protest if the govt failed to provide a written response.
