Imphal, August 23 2010: Police today had a hard time in preventing demonstrating students proceeding towards the Chief Minister's bungalow to air their demands to the Chief Minister.

Students of government colleges - DM College of Science, Arts and Commerce, GP Women College, and Maharaj Budhachandra College under the banner of The Coordinating Committee of College Students' Union of Manipur - marched towards the Chief Minister's Bungalow from their respective college campuses demanding appointment of regular principal in their respective colleges among others.

They carried various placards highlighting their demands which included infrastructure shortage in their respective colleges.

The demonstration of the students of DM Colleges was prevented by the police from proceeding further at the Western Gate of Kangla while the rally coming from GP Women College was blocked near the traffic island in front of the Bungalow and that from Maharaja Budhachandra College at Sanjenthong.

Students of Ideal College and Modern College also took part in the rally that originated from the DM College campus.

The rally that originated from GP Women College was participated by students of Imphal College.

Students of Thoubal College, YK College and Lilong Haoreibi College took part in the rally that started from MB College.

Police allowed three representatives of the students, L Surjit, convener of Coordinating Committee of College Students' Union of Manipur, SM Anil Shah, general secretary of Student Union of DM College of Science and Ph Rahul, general secretary of DM College of Arts to call on the Chief Minister to air their demands.

The students however, could not meet the Chief Minister, and instead called upon the Education Minister, L Jayentakumar.

Later, speaking to reporters, convener L Surjit informed that the, education minister assured them to appoint regular principals of the colleges within the next month.

The minister also assured of appointing 211 non-teaching staff to fill up vacant posts in the government colleges and to provide required infrastructures in all colleges.

Convenor L.Surjit added if the minister failed to translate the assurances into work by the last week of September, they will launch intensified forms of protest.

He further lamented that government colleges have been running without regular principals for the last 15 years.

Participants in the protest march lamented that non-appointment of regular principal has greatly hampered the administration in the colleges which in turn affected the academic atmosphere of the students.

There was a brief heated exchange of words, before the police allowed the representatives to submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister.

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