KARNATAKA 

Students March To Vidhana Soudha

Vishwa Kundapura

DEMANDING fulfilment of several demands of the students community in Karnataka and an end to saffronisation of education by the BJP-led NDA government, thousands of students from across the state held a huge rally in Bangalore on September 27.  

The march was organised in respons to the “Vidhana Soudha Chalo” (March To State Assembly) call given by the state committee of Students Federation of India (SFI).

Holding banners and placards, the students marched in a procession from Chikkalal Bagh in the heart of the state capital and the march culminated in a public meeting at Basaveshwara Circle near Vidhana Soudha, the seat of power.

During the procession, the students chanted slogans highlighting their demands and against perilous education and employment policies of the  central and state governments.

K K Ragesh, all-India joint secretary of the SFI, addressed the students’ rally. He dealt at length with how the NDA government is dancing to the IMF-World Bank’s tunes, which is causing harm to the students of the developing countries including India. Blasting the education policy of the BJP-led central government, he related its fascistic approach to the heinous genocide in Gujarat. He asked the students community at large to come forward to safeguard the nation’s interests.

Former and current leaders of the state SFI like S Y Gurushanth, K N Umesh and R Ramakrishna, and CPI(M) state secretary G N Nagaraj, also addressed the gathering.

A delegation of student leaders later met the state’s education minister Professor B K Chandra Shekhar and submitted a memorandum. The minister gave a promise to the delegation about reopening the Maharani P U College, which is a girls college. He also assured that steps would be taken to appoint 500 P U college lecturers by January next. He also told the delegation that other issues would be discussed with concerned ministers of the state.

During the run-up to the “Vidhana Soudha Chalo” programme, the SFI undertook different agitations and mass awakening activities throughout the state. (INN)