ATSUM announces 12-hour shut down in hill areas on April 24 against RIMS authority

Imphal: The All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur (ATSUM) has announced today to go ahead with its agitation from April 24.

“As decided in the joint meeting of the All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur (ATSUM) and its subordinate bodies and federating units meeting held on April 17, 2023, and as announced in media, of resorting to agitation from April 24, 2023, the ATSUM will go ahead with a 12-hour total shut down in all the hill districts from 6 am of April 24 demanding befitting action against the erring the RIMS authority” the ATSUM said in a statement.

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The agitation is also to demand the implementation of MoA dated 3rd April 2023 signed between the RIMS, the ATSUM and the Manipur government, according to the ATSUM said in the statement.

Meanwhile, during the bandh, emergency services will be exempted from the purview of the total shutdown, the tribal student body informed.

The ATSUM then appealed to the public to extend cooperation and support to its demand for prevalence of rule of law in the RIMS. “Any inconvenience caused to the general public on account of the total shutdown is highly regretted,” it added.

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Meanwhile, the All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur (ANSAM) has announced to endorse the April 24 bandh in the hill districts of Manipur.

The naga student body said it was perturbed with the “perfidious nature of the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) authority for having failed to respect and abide the resolutions written in the Memorandum of Agreement(MoA) signed between the RIMS authority and the All Tribal Students’ Union, Manipur (ATSUM) ATSUM representing the whole tribal populace in the presence of the Government of Manipur representatives including the Health Minister, the Tribal Affairs & Hills Minister and the Hill Areas Committee (HAC) chairman on April 3, 2023 pertaining to issue demanding for nullification and rectification of the recently declared result for appointment of LDC in RIMS vide No. B/3222/208-RIMS dated on 03/03/2023 by the RIMS authority in compliance with RIMS Order No. M/1/2019-RIMS (49) dated 21st May 2022 and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare letter no. U- 12025/19/2019-NE dated 11th May, 2022 where 34% has to be reserved for ST, 3% for SC and 13% for OBC”.

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The ANSAM then said it considered such “perfidious nature” of the concerned authority had bamboozled the whole tribal populace in Manipur and the arising situation has compelled to take up an agitation following which the office of the ANSAM had taken a firm resolution to endorse the 12-hour total shut down in all the hill districts of Manipur from 6 am of April 24 in the best interests of the whole tribal populace and lawmakers in India demanding for the implementation of the rights given in the constitution to uphold the sanctity of democracy in India.

Therefore, the ANSAM said it “seriously appeals” its constituent units and sub-ordinate bodies to strictly endorse the proposed agitation in their respective jurisdictions for which any untoward incidents during the total shut-down shall be the sole responsibility of the RIMS authority.

NNN

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