Hyderabad: After participating in the agitations against state division for days together, the state employees from coastal districts and Rayalaseema are now encountered with the tough question – how
Hyderabad: After participating in the agitations against state division for days together, the state employees from coastal districts and Rayalaseema are now encountered with the tough question – how long should the strike continue While AP Non Gazetted Officers Association announced schedule of agitations for the next 15 days, the Secretariat Seemandhra Employees Forum is having a serious rethink on their agitation.“We are meeting on Tuesday to take stock of the situation and deliberate on continuing the strike,” Forum leader Murali told this newspaper. The Secretariat employees are looking for some political developments that may give some clarity on their continuing the strike. The Secretariat employees have been on strike since September 2, while APNGOs and other employees launched their strike much earlier, on Aug ust 12. “It is difficult to sustain without salary for two months,” said an office-bearer of the Forum. There were already differences of opinion between the two bodies APNGOs and Secretariat forum on various issues. In a fresh incident, the Secretariat employees are upset with APNGOs president P Ashok Babu commenting against the former for repeatedly referring to Hyderabad as if it is only the contentious issue. Earlier, the Secretariat employees tried to meet Antony committee and represent their grievances but Ashok Babu ridiculed the very committee maintaining that it was an internal affair of Congress party. When he made light of the impact of Jaganmohan Reddy’s release on the agitation, a delegation of Secretariat employees called on him and sought his support. Meanwhile, the APNGOs announced that silent protests will be organised near all statues of Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary on October 2. Protest programmes will be held in front of the residences of Seemandhra MPs on October 3 and 4. A 12-hour blockade of roads will be taken up across 13 districts on October 5, private travels and petrol bunks closure on 5 and 6, and lay seize of central government offices and banks on 7 and 8. The APNGOs will once again go to Delhi and meet leaders of national political parties on October 9, 10 and 11 to muster their support against division.2. APNGOs who are on indefinite strike against proposed bifurcation of the state for nearly two months to meet on Tuesday to decide their future course of action. APNGO leaders to decide on continuing with the strike, and if so for how long, a and how to take the agitation forward. (Vamsi)
