MYSORE: Employees of the Government of India's Textbook Press, popularly known as German press, staged a hunger strike on the press premises on Tuesday opposing the Union Government's decision to privatise the press.

More than 20 employees of the press led by working president of their union K.P. Vasudevan, staged a demonstration in front of the press situated on M.M. Hills Road in Mysore.

They protested against the Government's decision to privatise the press, which presently employs 68 workers. The first shift employees, who participated in the protest, termed the day-long hunger strike as a "token protest" and threatened to intensify the agitation if the Government privatised the press.

Instead of privatising the textbook press, the Government should modernise it and print books commissioned by the National Council for Educational Research and Training and National Book Trust to ensure regular work for the textbook press, the protesters said.

Regretting that successive State governments had stopped printing textbooks at the Government of India's press in Mysore since 1985, Mr. Vasudevan said the employees of the press could not be held responsible for the denial of textbook printing contracts by the State governments.

"It is not our fault that we are left with no job but printing stationary items such as forms for various government departments," he said and added that it was up to the Government to utilise the press and its employees.

Regretting that even organisations coming under the Human Resources Development were getting their textbooks and other items printed at private presses, Mr. Vasudevan urged the Government of India to modernise the textbook press and allot printing contracts of Government-run organisations to it.

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