Bhubaneswar: The Nabanirman Yuva Chhatra Sangathan (NYCS) has called for a 12-hour Odisha bandh Wednesday from 6am to 6pm, urging shops and markets to remain closed and vehicles to stay off the roads during the period.
The organisation said the bandh would be peaceful and would be supported by students, farmers, labourers, workers and intellectuals. NYCS founder Akshaya Kumar said the bandh was being observed to press for six demands, including the resignation of School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond.
The organisation’s 41- day Satyagraha and Kumar’s indefinite hunger strike entered their 24th day Tuesday, he said. Kumar claimed that the chief minister himself had acknowledged 1,678 errors in textbooks for Classes I to VIII. The errors, which include factual, spelling and other mistakes, had earlier been acknowledged by the School and Mass Education department.
He alleged that the government had failed to take adequate steps despite the issue being brought to its notice. He said the bandh was being organised after the organisation’s efforts to resolve the matter through other means had failed.
Kumar demanded that the School and Mass Education Minister resign immediately or be removed by the chief minister. He warned that the organisation would intensify its agitation and take to the streets if the demand was not met.