A total of 834 nutritious meal scheme employees comprising 695 women and 139 men were arrested when they blocked the Arcot Road and proceeded towards the Collectorate here on Friday with the intention of picketing the Collectorate as part of their state-wide jail-filling agitation in support of their demands.
The employees belonging to the Tamil Nadu Nutritious Meal Employees Association commenced the state-wide agitation on Wednesday in support of their demands which included making them permanent government servants , payment of statutory monthly pension of Rs.3,500 to the retired employees and payment of a lumpsum amount of Rs. 3 lakh at the time of retirement. They staged a demonstration on Wednesday, and observed a one-day fast on Thursday.
When the employees assembled opposite the Collectorate and tried to proceed towards the complex, they were prevented by the police through barricades and ropes.
When some of the agitators tried to break the cordon, one woman sustained injuries, and another fainted in the melee. They were admitted to the Government Vellore Medical College Hospital, Adukkamparai.
Later, the rest of the agitators courted arrest and got into the waiting police vans. The arrested persons were released in the evening.
