For the first time in Odisha’s history, all the private technical education institutions would remain closed on Thursday protesting the arrest of SOA University’s SUM Hospital owner Manoj Ranjan Nayak.
Significantly, the bandh has been timed on Thursday when the Khordha District and Sessions Court would hear the bail application of Nayak.
The Technical/Professional Institutions’ Association, a body of 1,000 technical educational institutions and an umbrella organisation of six associations, OPECA, OPESA, OITIA, OPCA, OMCA and OPMADCA, on Wednesday called for the 12-hour closure.
“More than 10,000 employees of these technical institutions will hold a procession from Master Canteen Square to lower PMG Square. later, a delegation would meet the Chief Minister and submit a memorandum highlighting our six-point charter of demands,” OPECA honorary secretary Binod Dash told reporters here.
Holding the Government responsible for the SUM fire tragedy, Dash said if the enforcement authorities had monitored the compliance in the hospital then such an incident could have been avoided.
OPESA general secretary Saroj Sahu said seeing the fate of an entrepreneur like Nayak, programmes like Make in Odisha would suffer as any private entrepreneur
would think twice before investing in the State.
The associations demanded an unconditional release of Nayak, not ot arrest any further arrest of SOA trustees, accountability to be fixed in case of SUM Medical College, Rs 15 lakh Government aid to the kin of the deceased and Rs 2 lakh to the injured, stopping the licence raj and creating a level playing field between the Government and private players.
The association even threatened to close down their institutes forever if harassment continues.