Right before every election, several state governments such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh include the issue of these workers in their manifesto and have even gone to the extent of promising them regular jobs.

'Are we terrorists or criminals? Why have our names and addresses been made public in the newspapers?'

Despite months of protests, a hunger strike and even an attempt at self-immolation, university authorities have allegedly refused to even enter into a dialogue on the substantial fee hike which is driving some students to consider quitting the university altogether.

On June 16, members of Yuva Halla Bol planned to hold an event to protest the government's new lapsable military recruitment scheme. They were detained, harassed and arrested.

MBBS students in the state have been made to sit for offline exams – even as the rest of the state, and the country, scrambles to deal with the third wave of India’s COVID-19 epidemic.