Indore: 500 NSUI members lay siege to collector’s office over demands

About 500 members of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) laid a siege to the district collector’s office in Indore on Friday over their four-point charter of demands.

About 500 members of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) laid a siege to the district collector’s office in Indore on Friday over their four-point charter of demands.

Mediapersons outside the DC office in Indore where the NSUI workers had laid a siege. (Shankar Mourya/ HT Photo)

The charter demanded that the district administration should not deploy school/college buses for any government rally or programme, action against district education officer Anurag Jaiswal for his irresponsible attitude towards the RTE admission and delay in school registration, prohibition on liquor sale in Indore and police atrocity against civilians.

However, the protest, led by NSUI national president Amrita Dhawan, evoked little response from the girl students, as only a handful attended it.

Apart from Dhawan, senior Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma, Congress city president Pramod Tandon, MLA Jitu Patwari and NSUI state president Vipin Wankhede were present on the occasion.

After an hour-long protest, additional district magistrate (incharge) Ajay Sharma accepted the charter of demands from NSUI leaders and assured them “relevant action on the demands after discussion with seniors”.

Earlier, the NSUI members and a few college students gathered at Harsidhi Temple, 300 metres from the district collector’s office. From there, they marched to the administrative block, where Congress and NSUI leaders addressed the members.

In his address, Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma, known for his controversial statements, termed NSUI workers as “Gandhiji ki Fouz”, while ABVP as “Gundon ko Fauz”. Dhawan levelled serious allegations against the BJP-led Union and State governments.

NSUI president Vipin Wankhade said the state government was persistently favouring “shiksha mafia” and as a result, deserving students were not getting scholarships and proper opportunities.

The district administration had deployed heavy police force in the area to prevent any untoward incident.