Government apathy alleged as DMU hunger strike enters 6th day
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, September 14 2026: The hunger strike launched by Dhanamanjuri University Students' Union has entered its sixth day but the Government has not paid any heed to it, said Konsam Premjit, president of Democratic Youth Front (DYF), a constituent body of Manipur Democratic People's Front (MDPF).

Speaking to mediapersons at Manipur Press Club today, Konsam Premjit said no one from the Government has enquired till date about what the students want and what their demands are.

Citing DYF's spot enquiry findings, he said the Manipur Gazette notification of October 30, 2017 clearly mentions stipend for PhD research scholars.

Guidelines were framed after the notification, but stipend has not been given till date from the very beginning.

Since the stipend was not given, a letter was submitted to the Commissioner.

As there was no response, a memorandum was submitted, he added.

When that also yielded no result, DM University officials met the Chief Minister on July 30 and were assured that it would be given in the first week of September.

However, it has not been given till now, he said.

He said the matter was also raised as a starred question by the Opposition in the Assembly session.

The reply was concluded by simply saying there is no source.

This is not acceptable, he said.

The expenditure for fellowships of those pursuing PhD in Science and Arts is huge.

Those in power do not know how much it costs, he said, adding that students have to bear expenses for chemicals, laptop, chips, sample collection outside, report preparation, publication of thesis, papers and journals which runs into lakhs.

The Government assistance is not to fully cover it.

It is only Rs 8000 per month, he added.

When the Government says there is no source for this amount, he questioned whether the Government values education at all.

Konsam Premjit appealed to the Government to at least look into the plight of the students if it understands the value of education.

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