HYDERABAD: Dr YSR National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management (NITHM) witnessed high drama on Monday after Andhra Pradesh government’s special chief secretary (tourism) Chandana Khan staged a protest for not being allowed inside the premises to attend a ‘board meeting’.
The bureaucrat was prevented from entering the institute by the Telangana tourism staff stating that she was not part of the governing council and hence not eligible to enter the premises. An argument ensued between the two parties after which Khan sat on a protest on the pavement of the institute for a couple of minutes.
The staff tried explaining to her that the Telangana government had issued a GO on August 6 which reconstituted the governing council of the NITHM and that she was no longer a member and had no role to play in the management and the administration of the institute.
“She went back but returned within minutes with an intention entering the premises. By then, about 50 to 50 of our staff had gathered at the entrance of the institute. On seeing her vehicle, we obstructed it on the main road itself and raised ‘go back’ slogans,” general secretary of the Tourism Employees Association V Janardhan told Express. The incident threw traffic haywire.
Janardhan said Chandana Khan arrived at 9 am with another tourism department official, KS Reddy, though the duo clearly understood that they no longer had any role to play in the institute’s affairs. “We are left wondering what their real motives could have been,” wondered another staffer.
Following the drama, the Telangana government issued a press release stating that NITHM, a registered society for Tourism and Hospitality management, in Hyderabad with the help of the Union tourism ministry now belongs to Telangana.
Chief secretary Rajiv Sharma, in the release, explained as per Section 75 of the AP Reorganisation Act, the institute has been listed in Schedule X. “The institute is located in Hyderabad and as per the Act, institutions which are geographically located in Telangana will be managed by the state. Its services will be offered to Andhra Pradesh on mutually agreed terms,” he said.
Like the Pragada Kotayya Memorial Indian Institutte of Textile Technology in Nellore belongs to Andhra Pradesh, the NITHM belongs to Telangana, Sharma said and added that in accordance with the GO MS no 3, Chandana Khan cannot continue to be the head of the institute.
What G.O. MS No. 3 Says
On August 6, the Telangana government issued a GO reconstituting the governing council members of the NITHM. Citing Schedule X of the AP Reorganisation Act, the GO said that the institute will be governed by Telangana state. Principal secretary (tourism and culture) of the Telangana government will be chairman and the council’s 10 members will include Telangana Tourism department commissioner or director, Principal Secretary (Higher Education), TSTDC managing director, Travel Agents Association of India Telangana chapter president, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Telangana president, additional director general or his nominee from Union Ministry of Tourism, JNTU Hyderabad registrar. The director of the institute will be the member-convener of the council. In the GO, institute’s director was also asked to take steps for an MoU with the Government of Andhra Pradesh for continuing services and education facilities to the students of AP as per the guidelines of AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.