Newmai News Network Imphal | April 6 Various student organizations both from the hills and the valley districts of Manipur will protest on April 7 in Imphal followed by a mass rally of the students on April 10 for “having failed to accede to the desires and wishes of the local populace” by the State Government in connection with the appointment of the State Chief Secretary. According to ATSUM, it had submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister of Manipur on December 19 last year during the official discourse with the apex tribal student body for appointment of a senior most local bureaucrat as the Chief Secretary. But having failed to accede to the desires and wishes of the local populace, many local organisations including DESAM and AIMS along with tribal students will jointly protest democratically in a peaceful manner against the Government in the form of sit-in in protest on April 7 in the heart of the state capital followed by a mass rally of students on April 10,” ATSUM stated. A joint meeting of the All Tribal Student Union, Manipur (ATSUM), Kuki Student Organisation (KSO), All Naga Student Association, Manipur (ANSAM) and the constituent units of the ATSUM was held on Thursday at the administrative office building at Chingmeirong in Imphal with Vareiyo Shatsang, president of ATSUM, in the chair. “Myriads of issues were analytically deliberated with special emphasis given to full time appointment of the Chief Secretary and not as Secretary in-charge as there is a local senior most lAS officer, even more senior than many retired Chief Secretaries of the state who has a good ACR, is efficient and possesses a sound moral background,” said ATSUM. “If the trend of pick and choose continues without taking into consideration some basic criteria viz., seniority, efficiency and commitment of a bureaucrat, it will be tantamount to discrimination, exploitation and suppression of one's inalienable rights,” the tribal student body also stated. The joint meeting further resolved to give a time line to address the charter of demands as per the understanding reached between the Government of Manipur and ATSUM on September 27, 2017. Another issue that was discussed was on scholarship issue. According to ATSUM, taking serious note of late payment of scholarship to ST/SC students for the academic 2016-2017, it resolved “to find out technical flaws if there should be any in crediting the scholarships into the students account.”
