Agitating students tonsure heads

As the sit-in dharna by more 200 students of Forest College and Research Institute (FCRI) in nearby Mettupalayam entered the eighth day today, some male students 'tonsured' their head to symbolise the 'last rites' to their education, saying it does not have any future.

The students, including 63 girls, are on the agitational path seeking preference to the forestry graduates in the appointment of forest rangers and foresters in the backdrop of government reducing reservation for them to 25 per cent from 100 per cent last year.

They have been observing a dharna on the campus, though the college remained shut indefinitely in the wake of the protest, and staging various symbolic protests as part of which some students tonsured their heads.
 

FCRI is a constituent college of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.