Tribal students call Manipur bandh

Imphal, Oct 5 (UNI) Two tribal students bodies of Manipur today called a 36-hour bandh starting from tomorrow to protest the recruitment of Guest Lecturers in the History Department of Manipur University.

The general strike has been called by the All Tribal Students' union of Manipur (ATSUM) and Manipur University Tribal Students' Union (MUTSU).

The two organisations, in a joint statement, said the stir was called to protest the failure of the Manipur University authorities to meet the demands of the tribal students.

The tribal students demanded 34 per cent reservation for tribals as the tribal population in the state is 34 per cent.

The MU, a central university, provides seven per cent reservation. MU officials said the reservation policy is decided by the Centre and is applicable in all Central Universities.

Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh had led a delegation to New Delhi to apprise the Central leadership about the issue.

The two organisations said the MU Vice-Chancellor had agreed to stop all appointments in the University until the matter was resolved. However, the University authorities went ahead with the recruitment process, the organisations said.

UNI NS DPM RP CS1642