Unemployed Graduates arrested in protest outside Provincial Council Secretariat Eleven female graduates among those arrested

By B.G.Chaturanga   
 A group of 22 unemployed graduates who demonstrated in  front of the North Central Provincial Council Secretariat yesterday  morning were taken into custody by the Anuradhapura Police.   
 Former Convenor of the All Ceylon Unemployed Graduates’  Union Dhammika Munasinghe and eleven female graduates were among those  arrested.   
The police said the protesters had prevented the movement  of Governor Maheepala Herath and the officials by obstructing the  entrance and the exit gates when they were to meet the public yesterday.  A senior police officer said the protesters ignored the court order and  continued to stage protests obstructing the activities of the provincial  council.   
The protesters said the Provincial Council could have  filled the existing vacancies for graduates employed in the province.  They pointed out that the number of unemployed graduates in the province  was less than that of the vacancies for graduate employees in the  institutions under the Provincial Council.   
 Mr. Munasinghe said about 35,000 unemployed graduates all  over the country had been left without any attention of the authorities.  They pointed out that the government failed to implement an effective  plan to resolve that burning issue.   
 The protesters said they would complain to the Human Rights Commission against the arbitrary arrest of several of them.