AIDWA stages protest in Mumbai over demands related to food security

Hundreds of women gathered in the Azad Maidan area of south Mumbai on Tuesday to stage an agitation over various demands related to food security and rationing system, police said. A delegation later met Maharashtra Food and Civil Supply Minister Chhagan Bhujbal at Mantralaya, the state secretariat, to put forth their demands related to food security and rationing system.

Hundreds of women gathered in the Azad Maidan area of south Mumbai on Tuesday to stage an agitation over various demands related to food security and rationing system, police said. CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat led the protest organised by the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA).

Several police personnel had to be deployed to control the protesters who thronged the road near the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters and Azad Maidan, and to regularise vehicular traffic, an official said.

The AIDWA's office is in the Azad Maidan area and they had sought permission to state the agitation on the footpath there, but the police denied them permission and asked them to protest at Azad Maidan, which is a designated place, he said. A delegation later met Maharashtra Food and Civil Supply Minister Chhagan Bhujbal at Mantralaya, the state secretariat, to put forth their demands related to food security and rationing system.