HYDERABAD: The call to save Kamala Nehru Polytechnic For Women (KNPW), the first women’s polytechnic college in Hyderabad is getting louder with teacher’s associations and students holding protests.
They also wrote to the Technical Education Department demanding continuation of contract lecturers’ services and to give admissions to students for the polytechnic courses for 2021-22 academic year in the institution, which is more popularly known as Kamala Nehru College.
On Thursday, several students staged a demonstration at Telangana Exhibition Society, the governing body of the college, demanding the State government to do the needful. The protestors claimed that the discontinuation of governmentaided polytechnic course is depriving the women students, especially those from economically weaker sections, of affordable education. Using #SaveKNPW, several social media users also started expressing their solidarity with the protesting students.
“@KTRTRS Telangana’s growth story is incomplete without women being active agents of progress and development. Pls look into Kamala Nehru Polytechnic college issue immediately. Women of this spirited state are looking forward for your intervention (sic),” tweeted a user.
Meanwhile, the Centre for Educational Studies (CES) and Telanagana Technical Colleges Employees Association (TSTCEA) also wrote to the State Technical Education Department making similar demand. The issue came to light after the college’s name went missing from the list of polytechnic colleges for the academic year 2021-22 released by the Department of Education.
Lobby against college? KNPW students and alumni allege that the Exhibition Society, with the State’s help, is also lobbying for the college’s closure. However, officials deny such claims