The Gandhinagar district police banned all types of protests and agitations in the state capital on Friday, even as they detained a few health workers who were protesting without permission in the Satyagraha Chavani area.
Gandhinagar district SP Tarun Duggal said , ‘No demonstration or agitation or protest is permitted from now on in Gandhinagar. Yesterday evening they contacted us for permission but we denied. They did not abide by it and therefore we detained them.’
Duggal added that such detentions happen under sections 68 (persons bound to confirm to reasonable orders of police) Gujarat Police Act, 1951.
Over the past two months, Gandhinagar has seen various protests including that of Van Rakshaks, Van Pals, Village Computer Entreprenuers (VCEs) and anganwadi workers, over various service related demands.
The Van Rakshaks and Van Pals are protesting primarily to increase their grade pay, but they are also seeking additional pay for working on holidays. They are employed by the forest department. VCEs work on commission at the panchayat department’s E-Gram Centers.
Some of those participating in such agitations were detained too, including, Vadgam MLA and Congress working president Jignesh Mevani who joined a protest by the Anganwadi workers and was detained by police along with the workers earlier. Then there was ex-servicemen’s agitation this month, listing 14 demands.
Around 26,000 healthcare workers from across the state, including multi-purpose health workers (MPHW), female health workers (FHW), multi-purpose health supervisors (MPHS), and female health supervisors (FHS), went on strike in early August under the banner of Gujarat State Health Employees’ Federation. The state government responded to ex-servicemen and health workers’ protests by forming committees to investigate their claims.
Early in August, some 9,000 panchayat department clerks in Gujarat embarked on an indefinite strike and made a number of demands of the state government regarding their employment and pay.