Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, November 05:
Raising the its various demands once again, All Tribal Students' Union, Manipur (ATSUM) has announced its decision of resuming the suspended agitation from November 10 if the Government fails to consider them sympathetically.
The student body had called off its agitation following an agreement signed with the Government earlier.
Talking to mediapersons at Hotel Imphal here today, assistant general secretary of ATSUM Apao Haokip explained that the decision to resume the agitation has been taken as the Government has failed to redress the grievances of the people living in the hill districts despite having given assurances over and over again.
The protracted economic blockade imposed by ATSUM on the two National Highways passing through the State had been called off after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on March 31 last year.
Another MoU was also signed between the two parties on September 20 this year.
Apao informed that an ultimatum had been served to the Government on October 13 this year setting October 19 as the deadline for fulfilling the demands raise by the student body for the welfare of the people living in the hill districts.
The nature of the agitation to be launched from November 10 may be either imposition of economic blockade like earlier along the two National Highways or it may be something which is far more intense, Apao said, adding that as of now the exact nature of the stir to be launched is yet to be finalised.
The demands of the student body include extension of the service tenure of all the employees working under District Autonomous Councils and giving pension benefit, conversion of all the 13 grant-in-aid high schools of the hill districts into full-fledged Government High Schools, service extension of the contract teachers, implementation of a reservation policy for the tribals in the Central educational institutions like RIMS, MU, CAU, etc.