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Imphal, Oct. 21 : An indefinite
economic blockade on the Imphal-Jiribam highway has stopped supply
trucks plying between Imphal and other parts of Assam via Silchar from
today.
The Jiribam unit of the All-Manipur
Students Union, Manipuri Students’ Federation, Democratic Students
Alliance of Manipur and Kangleipak Students Association jointly called
the blockade on National Highway 37 from midnight last night, demanding
an improvement in the education scenario in Jiribam subdivision of
Imphal East district.
The blockade has been called to protest
the lack of teachers and infrastructure in Jiribam Higher Secondary
School and other schools of the subdivision.
The groups are also protesting the
transfer of 22 teachers, appointed under Sarva Shikshya Abhiyan, from
Jiribam schools to Imphal recently.
“The state government has brought back
five teachers to Jiribam Higher Secondary School. This is not enough. We
demand that all the 22 teachers who were transferred to Imphal be
brought back to Jiribam,” a spokesperson for the four students’ groups
said over the phone.
Jiribam is the entry point to Manipur from Cachar district of Assam.
Because of its distance from the district
headquarters of Imphal East, Porompat, it is deemed one of the least
developed subdivisions in Manipur.
It is nearly 230km from Porompat.
The Imphal-Jiribam highway is the second
lifeline of Manipur, on which nearly 100 supply trucks ply daily to
bring in all kinds of supplies, including rice, cement, grocery items,
fertilisers, medicines and vegetables.
Traders in Imphal predicted that an
indefinite blockade on the second lifeline — the other being the
Imphal-Dimapur highway — could trigger a price rise in Imphal.
Sources at Jiribam said several supply trucks bound for Imphal remained stranded since early morning.
The students’ organisations did not
disrupt passen-ger services. However, they did not allow passengers to
carry commercial items in buses or taxis.
Volunteers removed goods from passenger
services bound for Imphal at Jiribam this morning. They also warned the
truckers against violating the blockade.
A senior official at the education
directorate here admitted that there was a shortage of teachers in most
of the government schools in the subdivision. “We are trying to find a
way to post a maximum number of teachers at Jiribam schools,” the
official said.
The students’ groups said they were compelled to impose the blockade as the government had not heeded their pleas.