Employees of the CAF&PD Department protesting in Imphal on November 19. (NNN Photo)
Newmai News Network
Imphal | November 19
Employees of the Manipur Consume Affair, Food and Public Distribution (CAF&PD) Department suspended their duties for the day on November 19 and staged a sit-in-protest at their office premises in Imphal’s Sangaiporou.
The employees were protesting against a recent bomb threat at the residence of one of their colleagues by miscreants suspected to be militants.
On November 15, a hand grenade was found deposited at the residence of Khuraijam Naba Kanta Singh, OSD (rice) CAF and PD, at Kongba Kshetri Leikai under Irilbung police station of Imphal East district. The bomb was safely defused by the police bomb detection and disposal squad and disposed off later.
The protest was staged under the aegis of the CAF and PD Employees’ Union who alleged that the working atmosphere was severely disturbed in the department owing to the bomb threat at the residence of their colleague.
The employees suspended their duties of the day and staged the sit-in-protest. The suspension of duties affected the normal distribution of PDS items, particularly allocation of rice to the agents of National Food Security Act (NFSA).
Talking to reporters at the protest site, the union’s General Secretary, K Romen alleged that the November 15 bomb threat was not the first time employees of the department were targeted by suspected militants. He said the recent bomb threat was amid employees working with stress and tension owing the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure delivery of the PDS items to the beneficiaries.
“Threatening employees in such a crucial time of the pandemic is unfortunate. We would like to appeal to all concerns not to indulge in such kind of threat at least during this bad time of pandemic,” he said.
