ANSU Calls 12-Hour Capital Bandh Over Education Related Demands
ANSU is seeking action on 56 identified schools, concerns involving Toru Engineering College and Pake-Kessang Special Needs School, and early advertisement of B.Ed. courses at Neelam Taram Government College, Yachuli; the ICR administration has ordered the proposed shutdown to be withdrawn.
ITANAGAR- The All Nyishi Students’ Union (ANSU) has called a 12-hour bandh in the Itanagar Capital Region over a set of education-related demands, including infrastructure requirements in 56 identified schools and concerns involving higher and special-needs education institutions.
The bandh was announced for 5 am to 5 pm on September 24. However, the Itanagar Capital Region District Magistrate, Toko Babu, on September 23 declared the proposed shutdown illegal and unlawful and directed ANSU organisers and others concerned to refrain from enforcing, supporting or participating in it.
The administration issued the direction under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, citing concerns about possible disruption to the public, daily-wage earners, patients and businesses, as well as potential law-and-order issues. The order warned that violations could attract penal action. The Superintendents of Police of Itanagar and Naharlagun were also directed to take measures to maintain public order and protect life and property.
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The immediate issue behind the agitation is ANSU’s demand for action on 56 identified schools in Nyishi-inhabited districts. The students’ body had submitted a representation to the Education Department seeking allocation of funds and action on the identified schools. It subsequently issued a seven-day ultimatum after, according to ANSU, it did not receive the response it was seeking.
The wider set of demands also includes issues concerning Toru Engineering College, the Pake-Kessang Special Needs School, and the early advertisement of B.Ed. courses at Neelam Taram Government College, Yachuli, according to the information provided for the agitation.
Education Minister Pasang Dorjee Sona held discussions with ANSU representatives on September 22 and urged the organisation to reconsider its bandh call. According to reports of the meeting, the Education Department presented an action-taken report on the issues raised by the students’ body.
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Sona said several proposals relating to education infrastructure had already been submitted to the Planning Department. One account of the meeting said 26 infrastructure requirements had been identified, with more than half either ready or at an advanced stage of implementation. The requirements include facilities such as hostels, undergraduate blocks, staff quarters and boundary walls.
A separate report on the subsequent discussions between the government and ANSU said that, of the 55 schools specifically flagged by ANSU, more than half had been taken up for intervention after verification, with proposals sent to the Planning and Investment Department. The difference between the 55-school figure in that report and ANSU’s 56-school representation has not been explained in the available reports.
The government has maintained that the remaining infrastructure requirements would need to be examined in consultation with the Planning Department and other concerned departments, particularly in relation to funding and convergence with existing schemes.
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The Education Minister has appealed to ANSU to reconsider the bandh in view of the steps already initiated by the government. The government has also emphasised continued dialogue with students and other stakeholders to address education infrastructure gaps.
As of the latest reports available, ANSU’s response to the ICR administration’s order declaring the bandh illegal had not been reported.
The situation therefore remains centred on two parallel developments: ANSU’s demand for time-bound action on education-related issues and the administration’s direction against enforcing the proposed bandh, alongside the government’s stated effort to address the concerns through departmental and inter-departmental processes.
