HYDERABAD: Hundreds of students from Koti Women’s College held an hour-long rasta roko protest demanding the rollback of Rs 2,000 fee hike, on Wednesday. The protest was called off after police intervened and promise to mediate. This is the second protest this week by the students over fee hike.
“The administration has increased the fees by Rs 2,000 and has made it mandatory for the money to be paid online. While paying online we are charged an additional amount of Rs 1,300. A lot of us students are from poor families and are finding it difficult to pay the increased amounts,” said a B.Sc student who did not want to be named.
“This year the college is asking even scholarship students to pay the fee out of their pockets. This is so wrong. Last week, when we protested the principal, asked us to call off the agitation and give the administration a week’s time to resolve the issues but when we saw no action we decided to step up the protest,” said another BSc food sciences student.
No cots, lights or water in hostels
It may be recalled that earlier this year in February, Kadiam Srihari, deputy chief minister who is also in-charge of the education portfolio said that the 94-year-old college would be upgraded into a women’s university as it had all the facilities in place for this.
A look at the college and hostel infrastructure, however, paints a very grim picture. In a dormitory of 30 students, 60 students are accommodated. Of these six students have been allotted three cots. The other 54 have to sleep on the floor. There are only one light and two fans in each dormitory. Washrooms are poorly maintained. Sometimes there is no water to drink.
“Both hostels and classroom are infested with mosquitoes and every other day there is a case of malaria or dengue. We have frequently spotted snakes on the campus. Post sundown, we avoid venturing outside the hostel as there are no lights and have to use a flashlight on our phones to even go to the washroom,” said a hostler.
‘No reason to protest’
The college administration, while agreeing that the college infrastructure is crumbling, said that steps are being taken to improve the facilities depending upon the funds. Principal Roja told Express that the hostels currently were accommodating students double their capacity but it was a something that the students themselves had asked for.
Students stage dharnas across State
Nearly a lakh students participated in protests at various district collectorates in the state on Wednesday demanding that the government ‘walk the talk’ on its promises on education and employment it had made when it came to power in Telangana. The protests were organised by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and rallies were held at 300 locations across the state in which 25,000 students and activists took part.
UoH students make chapathis on road
Protesting against non-availability of chapathis in University of Hyderabad mess, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members came out on the streets and prepared chapathis for dinner on Wednesday.