DYFI takes out rally to Kannur SP Office against Police atoricities

Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) took out a massive youth march to the office of the Superintendent of Police, Kannur District on Friday 19th July, in protest against ‘police excesses’ on protesting students and youth. Thousands of youth across the district participated in the march.

The police deployment was heavy. Hundreds of DYFI workers, who took part in the march, were stopped at by the police near the traffic circle in front of the Civil Station at 11 a.m. The police barricaded the road to the SP office. An Executive Magistrate was also present. The protestors then staged a sit-in on the road. The protestors dispersed after they were addressed by DYFI leaders.The police officials created unwanted tension in the city and surroundings by huge deployment of police force with modern equipments and granades to disperse the youth. The deployment was such that, the scene was of a war.

Inaugurating the march, DYFI State president M. Swaraj said the police should not be under the impression that they could induce fear in DYFI workers. If the government decided to jail all the DYFI workers, existing prisons in the State would be inadequate, he added. DYFI leaders A.N. Shamseer, P. Santhosh, and P.P. Divya were among those who led the march. The Kannur Town police have registered a case against Mr Shamseer for threatening police officials under section 117 E of the Kerala Police Act and section 506 (1) of the Indian Penal Code. A police case has also been registered against 1000 DYFI activists, including Mr Swaraj for blocking the road.

SFI members lathicharged by police in Bangalore

Students Federation of India (SFI) protest march in Bangalore on Thursday 20th July seeking overhaul of the diploma education system was lathicharged by the police after they refused to allow the students to go to Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar’s residence. The march began at the Town Hall, but they protesters were stopped by the police in front of Ulsoor Gate police station.

The agitated students started shouting slogans and sat on the road demanding permission for the march. When they refused to budge, the police resorted to lathi-charge. The nine protesters, who were arrested, were released later. The police, however, said that cases were not booked against them. Students from 15 colleges in Bangalore, Tumkur, Hassan, Mysore, Koppal, Mandya, Davangere, Dharwad, Chickballapur and Mangalore participated in the protest.

The protest was organised in the wake of the results of various diploma courses by the Directorate of Technical Education in which more than 60 per cent of the students had failed, said SFI’s Bangalore district president Muniraju M. The demands included that the students of diploma courses be given the option to “carryover” subjects as in degree courses, replace the “tough” syllabus with an easier one, regular classes for at least four months, reduction in number of examinations, bring down fees collected for re-evaluation and issue of photocopies, an admission process free of donation, besides setting up proper infrastructure such as library and laboratory in colleges.

They urged the Directorate of Technical Education to take steps against commercialisation of education, stopping certification of private polytechnics and setting up polytechnic institutions by the government wherever there is a need. “We want a degree system and a change in the present diploma system. People who join diploma courses come from poor backgrounds and they are forced to pay a huge amount as supplementary examination fees,” said, Jeeva J., SFI district joint secretary.

CITU Karnataka State study camp from August 9

State-level study camp of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) will be held at Karmikara Bhavan at Kundapur in Udupi district from August 9 to 13. 300 delegates from across the State would attend the camp. General secretary of CITU and MP Tapan Sen would inaugurate the camp. President of the State unit of CITU V.J.K. Nair and general secretary S. Prasanna Kumar would deliver lectures.

CITU wins Pepsico poll

CITU Trade union leader Ch Ramulu participating in a rally before pesico company after winning the elections at sangareddy in Medak district.

 Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has won the elections for the recognised trade union held at the bottling unit of Pepsi Company (Aradhana Foods Private Limited) located near Sangareddy in Andhra Pradesh. This was the second win for the CITU against TMS trade union arm of  the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) . The defeat was an hard to digest for the TRS leaders, particularly the candidates and party district convener Raghunandan Rao and TRS legislator T. Harish Rao, who addressed a gate meeting of the workers recently. The defeat was registered even after TRS leaders gave a call to the workers of the factory to vote in the name of regional sentiment.

Out of the 240 votes in the factory, 239 were polled and CITU panel led by Chukka Ramulu won 162 votes against the 75 votes polled for the TMS panel led by Mr. Raghunandan Rao. Two votes were rejected. The majority for the CITU was more than the votes polled for the TMS. One of the CITU leader B. Mallesh claimed that the Pepsico unit was the biggest in South Asia for the company. According to sources, local Congress legislator T. Jayaprakash Reddy reportedly played his role and extended tacit support to the CITU.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)