Correspondent

PASIGHAT, 7 Oct: The East Siang unit of Adi Students' Union (AdiSU) and seven other students' bodies and youth organizations on Wednesday enforced a 12-hour East Siang district bandh in protest against non-fulfillment of their various demands, including cancellation of transfer order of 63 teachers from East Siang to different districts.

The bandh, which started at 5 am, affected normal life in Pasighat, Mebo and Ruksin subdivisions. Members of the protesting organizations blocked the National Highway at Ruksin Gate, 5-Mile, Raneghat and Mebo tiniali.

Shops, banks, petrol pumps, hotels and other commercial establishments in Pasighat, Ruksin and Mebo towns remained closed, while passenger and commercial vehicles stayed off the road during the bandh hours.

Several oil tankers, goods trucks, passenger buses and personal vehicles were stranded at Jonai-Ruksin for the day. Emergency services were exempted from the purview of the bandh.

However, no bandh-related untoward incident was reported from anywhere.

The bandh was enforced to protest the alleged inaction of the education department regarding transfer and posting of teachers in the district.

Earlier, the protesters held a meeting with the DDSE and also moved higher ups of the education department. Their core demands include cancellation of the transfer order of the 63 teachers, one month's time for intra-district rationalization and adjustment in case of teacher posting, filling up vacancies, and creation of additional teachers' post (sanctioned) to minimize workload of the serving teachers.

Speaking to the media, leaders of the protesting organizations said they will discuss future course of action, if their demands are not fulfilled.