LUDHIANA: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Friday staged a protest at Bharat Nagar Chowk, alleging the Punjab government has excluded Scheduled Caste (SC) and Backward Class (BC) candidates from the recruitment of 1,013 lecturer posts. The process, which includes 829 regular and 184 backlog vacancies, opened on July 1 and concludes on July 31.Members of Bahujan Samaj Party protesting outside Mini Secretariat in Ludhiana on Friday. (Manish/HT)Following the protest, BSP leaders submitted a memorandum to Ludhiana deputy commissioner Himanshu Jain,urging him to forward their demands to the Punjab government and demanding the immediate implementation of reservation as per constitutional provisions.Party leaders alleged a lack of transparency in the recruitment roster. They claimed that the number of seats reserved for SC and BC candidates were lower than what is mandated under reservation rules.Citing the Punjabi lecturer recruitment as an example, they claimed none of the 71 advertised posts were reserved for SC or BC categories. According to BSP leaders , the breakup included 43 general, 12 ex-servicemen, 3 sportsperson, 3 persons with disabilities, and 10 economically weaker section (EWS) seats.BSP leaders termed the recruitment notification a violation of constitutional provisions.The party has warned that it will continue its agitation until the recruitment notification is revised to restore reservation for these categories.