LUCKNOW, Aug. 18 -- More than 300 girl students of Jai Prakash Narayan Sarvodaya Balika Vidyalaya formed a human chain and blocked the Dubagga-Sitapur bypass for over three hours on Monday amid rain, protesting a shortage of teachers that they said was affecting their studies. The protest, which began around 7 am, led to a traffic jam stretching nearly 3 km on the Dubagga-Balaganj route.

The protest came two days after more than 100 boys from the boys' campus of the same school held a similar demonstration over teacher shortage and other issues. The boys' and girls' sections operate from separate campuses and buildings and are run by the UP social welfare department.

The students said the school has an acute shortage of teachers, partic...