Tamil Nadu - Tirunelveli   

Siddha students continue protest

— Photo: A. Shaikmohideen

Common voice: Students of Government Siddha Medical College, Palayamkottai staging a demonstration on Tuesday.

TIRUNELVELI: Even as Government Siddha Medical College administration ordered the immediate closure of the college in the wake of the students’ indefinite protest against the move to shift two vital units of the institution, the students continued their agitation for the second day on Tuesday.

As the students commenced their protest on Monday against the Centre’s attempts to shift Survey of Medicinal Plants Unit to a future private siddha medical college to come up at Salem and the Clinical Research Unit to a Thanjavur-based private deemed university, the administration, while declaring indefinite closure of the college, ordered the immediate closing of the hostels on Monday night. However, the students continued their agitation on the college premises.

In a bid to force the students, particularly the girl students, to leave the hostels immediately, supply of power and water to the hostel was stopped early this morning. Agitated over this, a group of students met District Collector M. Jayaraman and submitted a memorandum to him praying for immediate intervention to save the two units from being shifted from the college premises.

“Since the Central Council for Research in Ayurveda and Siddha (CCRAS), New Delhi has taken this decision I can only forward your petition to the officials concerned. Hence, you better meet the policymakers to press for your demands,” Mr. Jayaraman told the students.

When they complained to the Collector about the sudden stopping of water and power supply to the girls’ hostel, he asked the Government Siddha Medical College administration to restore the supply immediately as the girls, particularly students from far off places, could vacate their rooms only on Tuesday evening.

Though the students’ efforts to get permission from the police for continuing their agitation did not fructify, they decided to go ahead with their agitation and intensify it further.

Even as the girl students had to vacate their hostel rooms by Tuesday evening, the boys still remained on the college premises and their hostel could not be closed down as post-graduate students are also staying in the same block.

“We may be arrested as we continue the agitation. Our protest will continue with more determination till our genuine demands are met,” said students’ union chairman M. Thiruvalluvar.

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