HYDERABAD: Against the backdrop of politicos and other noted personalities accepting honorary doctorate degrees offered by different Universities across the country in the name of rendering services to people, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) mayor Bonthu Rammohan has done something novel by receiving an actual PhD.
The mayor completed his doctorate by submitting his thesis titled ‘Implementation of Watershed Management in Telangana with special reference of Warangal district’.
Osmania University (OU) professors - Dr P Mohan Rao and Prof Y Parthasarathy, cleared Mayor’s viva and awarded him a PhD, here on Thursday.
“On the greatest occasion of centenary celebrations of OU, I am delighted to be awarded with a PhD. This was not any easy task. I endured many hardships in life to reach this position,” the Mayor said.
A self-made man
Rammohan began his life in a small village in Mahabubabad district. He was born as the eldest child in a poor farmer’s family.
He completed SSC in Mahabubabad with great difficulty due to financial difficulties. After completing tenth standard, he made an attempt to get an admission into junior college but unfortunately did not have the needed `31 to get admission to college. Then, he came to Hyderabad to make a living but was determined to continue studies and somehow managed to continue his studies.
He got an admission for BA in Dr B R Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU), Hyderabad, and completed his degree. After graduation, he took admission in LLB from University College of Law, Warangal, from Kakatiya University on a scholarship. Then, he went to Hyderabad and at Osmania University where he could pursue his Masters in Arts (Public Administration in 1999-2000) and LLM (2003-04) from University College of Law, OU.
Role in Statehood
He joined TRS in August 2002 and took part in the statehood movement. Mayor applied for PhD in 2004. He could not complete the PhD on time because of the agitations and got arrested several times.
“When I was going to write the exam, I was arrested by the police for two years. My studies got interrupted,” he said. Prof Y Pardhasaradhi of Public Administration department in OU and Director of RCUES (Regional Center for Urban and Environmental Studies), said, “Rammohan had started his PhD around 12 years ago.
Though he had finished data collection in time, due to the statehood agitation, there was delay. As he exceeded the tenure of a full-time research scholar for completing PhD, he applied for extension. It was approved by a Standing Committee which found the reasons for delay in submitting PhD and found it to be genuine.”