Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 31 (PTI) Police on Saturday shifted Valarmathi, secretary of the Action Council and convenor of the LPST rank holders' protest committee, to a hospital after doctors advised immediate medical attention during her indefinite hunger strike outside the Secretariat here, officials said.

    Valarmathi had tonsured her head on October 26 before beginning the hunger strike, demanding that appointments to government schools be made from the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) rank list for Lower Primary School Teacher (LPST) posts before it expires.

    The rank holders have been staging a protest in front of the Secretariat for the past 116 days.

    Doctors examined Valarmathi on Saturday and advised immediate medical attention, following which police took her into custody and shifted her to the hospital, officials said.

    Although Valarmathi and other protesters resisted the move, police managed to take her to an ambulance and transport her to the hospital.

    The protesters alleged that she had been forcibly removed to disrupt their agitation.

    They told reporters that doctors had examined her on Friday night and found no health issues.

    They pointed out that she had earlier undertaken hunger strikes lasting more than 10 days, while the current strike had entered only its sixth day.

    The protesters said the agitation would continue even if police detained Valarmathi.

    They are demanding appointment orders for all eligible candidates on the LPST rank list before its expiry, the transfer of appointments to aided-school teaching posts to the Kerala Public Service Commission, an end to alleged cash-for-job practices in recruitment, and a teacher-student ratio of 1:25.

    The agitation had earlier been called off following a government assurance that the demands would be addressed and discussions with General Education Minister N Shamsudheen. However, the rank holders resumed their protest, alleging that the demands had not been met within the stipulated deadline and that the government had allowed aided-school managements to make appointments.

    Police had registered a case against the protesters, including Valarmathi, on Friday.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)
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