Teachers continue hunger stir

dharwad: the hunger strike launched by members of akhila karnatak prathamika shikashaka sangha (akpss) protesting against unauthorised deduction of a day''s salary for shikshaka bhavan entered the second day on friday. the akpss has launched the strike demanding refund of rs 1.73 lakh deducted from the salary of teachers in dharwad taluk by the block education officer (beo) for the construction of a shikashaka bhavan in bangalore.the protesters said the deduction was done without the consent of the teachers and that the authorities had taken the decision arbitrarily. president of state unit of akpss b.f. vijapur said the proposed bhavan in bangalore was not at all useful for teachers of north karnatak and hence, taking contributions by force amounted to violation of rules. he said, the akpss would resort to legal recourse if the deducted amount was not refunded immediately. gurumurthy yaragambalimath, v.n. manturmath, manjunath hegde also participated in the strike. dharwad zilla panchayat vice-president vinay kulkarni, trade union leader k.s. sharma met the agitators and expressed their support.