Day 4 sees more unruly scenes

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Thiruvananthapuram: The fourth day of the indefinite strike by pro-left service organisations was marked by more unruly scenes like pouring of motor oil and sprinkling of itching dust on people including some students.
The government claimed better attendance in offices on Friday. While the government claimed that 74.32 percent of the government employees turned up for work on Friday, the fact was also that most of the offices and educational institutions remained defunct or their working disrupted by the large-scale absence of staff.
Chief minister Oommen Chandy is taking a tough stand. He reiterated that he had no plans to hold talks with the striking service organisations yet. These organisations responded by saying they would go for talks only when the government expressed its willingness to discuss the issues.
"During a meeting with finance minister KM Mani on Thursday, there was a suggestion to hold talks with the chief minister on Sunday. However, as the CM later maintained that he had not invited anyone for talks, we too have changed our plans for talks," said left joint action council general convener A. Sreekumar.
Meanwhile, over 20 pro-left employees were suspended from service, while many were arrested for disrupting the functioning of government offices. Several students at the Kootoor Chandra Memorial Higher Secondary School were hospitalised after itching powder was sprinkled on them, allegedly by the agitators. Motor oil was poured at Venjaramoodu Govt. LPS teacher Sujitha and four employees at the Adoor PWD office. In Kollam, agitating employees made an issue out of a group of employees allegedly consuming alcohol in the office premises. Some employees who went out of office after signing the attendance register were intercepted by the agitating employees.
The SFI organised strikes at educational institutions across the state, in support of the strike by the teachers and government employees. A march taken out by the DYFI to the Secretariat led to minor tension, but no violence.