Collectorate here and Tahsildar offices all over the district wore a deserted look on Thursday as the employees commenced their 15-day strike from Wednesday midnight demanding that the State to be kept united, as per a call given by the Samaikya Rashtra Parirakshana Samiti and the APNGOs Association.
DemonstrationEmployees held a demonstration near the Collectorate voicing their strong demand for a unified State and wanted the MPs to get the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, which was rejected by the State Assembly and Council, defeated in Parliament.
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The 66-day strike a few months ago had resulted in the MLAs and MLCs rejecting the bill and now it was the responsibility of the MPs and Central Ministers from Seemandhra to get the bill defeated in Parliament, leaders of the APNGOs Association city and district wings said.
Officers and employees of as many as 75 Government departments are participating in the strike which would continue till February 21 when the Parliament sessions end. People of all walks of life must support the striking 5,000 employees in the district by taking up agitational programmes.
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Members of the Visakhapatnam Bar Association, who are conducting a relay hunger strike camp for the last 190 days demanding that the Centre keep the State united, burnt an effigy of Union Minister S. Jaipal Reddy near the District Courts premises on Thursday in protest against his remarks on the rejection of the draft AP Reorganisation Bill in the Assembly.
The advocates were led by secretary of bar association N. Sanyasi Rao. K. Suresh Kumar, Kuppili Muralidhar, Bagadi Tulasi Das, Sanapala Muralikrishna, S.V. Ramana, and Ch. Sekhar participated.
Members of the Gajuwaka Bar Association took out a rally from the court premises to the police station junction by covering their eyes with black badges. Association secretary M. Pattabhirama Rao said people would not tolerate the Centre’s efforts to get the bill passed by the Parliament.