HYDERABAD: Describing the appointment of a committee to look into the controversy surrounding the proposal to merge polytechnic colleges with the Young India Skills University (YISU) as an attempt to buy time, Union minister G Kishan Reddy on Thursday demanded that the government immediately withdraw GO 97.
The Union minister also condemned the government for placing state BJP chief N Ramchander Rao and other party leaders under house arrest on Thursday to prevent them from joining the students’ protest at a polytechnic college. “The government is trying to muzzle the voices of students of colleges in Masab Tank, Ramanthapur, Wanaparthy and Parkal by resorting to lathi-charge and arrests,” he said.
“Rahul Gandhi goes around the country holding a copy of the Constitution. But he is turning a blind eye to denial of rights to students in the state ruled by his party. The government should rescind plans to water down polytechnic education by denying them the scope to pursue further education. GO 97 should be withdrawn forthwith instead of wasting time by forming committees. BJP will stand by the students all through,” he said.
‘We’ll continue our struggle for cause of students’
Meanwhile, Ramchander Rao accused the state government of conspiring to dismantle the polytechnic educational institutions with an eye on prime lands they were built on.
Addressing the media at his residence at Tarnaka, after being placed under house arrest by police, the state BJP president said: “The Revanth Reddy government is plotting to destroy polytechnic education and hand over valuable lands to real estate developers.”
“We’ll continue our struggle for securing the future of 40 lakh students across the state,” he said.
Alleging that the GO 97 was issued to bring the polytechnic colleges under the SHAKTI department, he said that the students will be denied an opportunity to pursue engineering courses.
He also questioned why promises made in the Congress’ ‘Youth Declaration’ remain unfulfilled even as Rahul Gandhi tours the NDA-ruled states to provoke students.