Exempt education from Samme, appeals Shankar Rao

Handlooms and Textiles Minister Dr P Shankar Rao on Monday appealed to the Telangana groups to exempt the educational institutions from the Sakala Janula Samme, the general strike for Telangana.

Talking to media persons, Dr Shankar Rao said that lakhs of students have been put to hardship due to the continuous closure of schools, colleges and other institutions. In several institutions, the syllabus could not be completed due to the loss of working days. Therefore, all education institutions be exempted from the strike, he appealed to Telangana Joint Action Committee and other groups.

Regarding three-day Rail Roko starting from October 12, the Minister said lakhs of passengers would suffer due to the three-day long agitation. He said a day long protest could be tolerated by the general public, but protests for long duration would spoil the image of Telangana agitation among the people.

Dr Shankar Rao said that the Centre was trying to find an early solution to Telangana issue and therefore, all pro-Telangana groups must soften their agitation.