ATSUM to spearhead tribals' demand
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, September 18 2017:
To protest the unduly long time it has taken to redress their demands, tribals under the banner of All Tribal Students' Union Manipur (ATSUM) will stage a sit-in-protest on September 22 at Imphal .
Even as Chief Minister N Biren led Government has time and again stated that the growing relation between the hills and valley is encouraging with the Chief Minister stating that the divide has been "bridged," the All Tribal Students' Union Manipur (ATSUM) begged to differ with the Chief Minister's words which seem hollow especially for the students' community .
"As representatives of the tribal students, ATSUM can state that not a single issue of students grievances have been addressed," ATSUM said in a statement .
None of the points/issues raised by ATSUM in its written submission on August 17 and personal meeting on July 10 (on Hills Leaders' Day) have been addressed, it said.
Many grievances highlighted through the media have also been ignored nor paid attention to .
As such, tribal students will continue to fight until the rights of tribal students are protected and fulfilled.
"Therefore, to register our demand and begin our protest against the long pending demand of ATSUM, tribals under the banner of ATSUM will stage a sit-in-protest on Friday, September 22, 2017 at Imphal," ATSUM said .
The charter of demands raised by ATSUM amongst others included appointment of adequate teaching and non-teaching staff in the hill districts under ADC, Education (S) secondary lecturers and Assistant Professors in Government colleges and development of infrastructure in all the educational institutions with library facilities, computer, lab equipment, staff quarters and recreational facilities .
ATSUM's demand also included doing away with the culture of utilization at the earliest and to reinstate such 'utilised teachers' to their original places of posting, providence of residential school equipped with highly qualified teachers, well equipped library, infrastructural amenities, ultra modern labs, well designed hostel, amenities for co-curricular activities, indoor and outdoor recreation, hostel facilities for students and quarter facilities.
Proper infrastructural facilities for ZEO office, rationalisation of teachers, regularization of adhoc teachers, introduction of MIL subject in Higher Secondary Schools and Colleges, to ensure rightful reservation of seats in admission in MU, establishment of BEd centres in the Hills, initiation for facilitating competitive examination centres in the hills/hill districts wherever feasible, up-gradation of IGNTU-RCM to a full-fledged autonomous central university, declaration of Assistant Professor result and special recruitment drive for STs are some of the demands raised by ATSUM .
The tribal students' body also demanded the Govt to make health centres in the hills functional, to provide quarters for doctors and nurses and to formulate a policy of transfer & posting in Health Department to avoid irregularities .
Strict compliance to reservation policy as per the existing 200 point roster in any recruitment of employees, to do away with the system of piece meal recruitment drive for equitable opportunity in services, to ascertain the total numbers of backlog posts in every department and filling of vacancies by a special recruitment drive for ST to poise an equilibrium of reservation and reservation in Sainik School are some other demands of the ATSUM.
It also demanded reorganisation of Police jurisdiction.
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