Protests in Chennai bring traffic to halt

Chennai: The city on Wednes­day witnessed four different protests, the police being hard pressed to regulate both the traffic and the crowds.
More than 3,000 members of the Tamil Nadu Elementary School Tea­chers’ Federation took to the streets in front of the Government Guest House in Chepauk, their list of demands including salary on par with Central government tea­chers and reintroduction of the old pension sche­me.
The agitating teachers were secured in batches by the police and stationed at Rajaratnam Stadium in Egmore. A protest by the trade unions at the same location was nullified due to the massive turnout of teachers. 
Similarly, BJP party cadres staged a demonstration at Pudupet, Anna Salai and Royapu­ram areas, condemning the burning of the Modi banners that were raised at various parts of the city and demanding action against the offenders. With Narendra Modi arriving at Tiruchy on Thursday to address the BJP youth conference, several banners and cutouts were raised in different areas of Chennai, hailing the BJP’s PM candidate.
Unidentified persons vilified the banners on Tuesday night, said a police officer. The agitators withdrew their protest after the police promised action.
As many as 150 cadres of the Students Fede­ration of India (SFI) thronged the Tamil Nadu Higher Education Cou­ncil as part of their statewide protest, dema­nding reduction of exam fee across universities in the state. Their demands also included conducting student elections in colleges across Tamil Nadu.
The protest by visually challenged graduates entered its tenth day, with more than 150 graduates protesting in front of the DPI Campus in Nungambakkam. The police eventually arrested them when they tried to go on a protest march towards the Secretariat to meet the Chief Mini­ster with their demands.