A CORRESPONDENT
LAKHIMPUR: Thousands of members of the Lakhimpur district unit of Sadou Asom Madhyahna Bhojan Karmachari Santha, the common forum of the mid-day meal employees of the State, staged strong protest in Lakhimpur on Thursday.
The members of the organization gheraoed the mid-meal cooking house of Parash Agro Society, located at Khutakotiya, demonstrating massive protest against the government’s decision taken to hand over the responsibility of mid-day meal cooking to non-governmental organizations (NGO).
Alleging this decision as a government conspiracy, the activists of the organization created a tense situation in the protest venue. They attempted to enter the cooking house by breaking the front gate lock which resulted in a confrontation with security personnel. At this development, more than ten women sustained injuries while the pelting of stones by a section of protesters affected a vehicle owned by the NGO.
Notably, the mid-day meal employees had requested and demanded the State Government to cancel the decision taken for handing over of mid-day meal cooking responsibility to NGOs, submitting prayers and petitions or staging agitation programmes. But the State Government paid no attention to these demands. As a result of it, these employees became jobless from November 1. Under such circumstances, these jobless employees were compelled to initiate the massive protest programme expressing vehement resentment against the State Government and shouting anti-government and anti-NGO slogans. To control the aggression of the protesters, security personnel had to adapt mild lathicharge which deteriorated the situation. However, the situation came under control by virtue of the initiative taken by executive magistrate Lambit Gogoi, DSP (Headquarter) Runa Neog, North Lakhimpur OC Aditya Deory.
The Lakhimpur president of the organization Kunjalata Bhorali and secretary Mayawait Payeng expressed that their organization would be initiating agitation programme until and unless the decision was cancelled by the government. They said that they would prevent the supply of mid-day meal materials to the NGOs at any cost.