HYDERABAD: A day after the Hyderabad High court gave a green signal to the Telangana government to go ahead with inspections with no uniformed policemen, the Joint Action Committee of educational institutions said that the strike would continue till the government removes policemen completely from the picture.
They also demanded the government to first conduct raids on corporate schools and colleges and said that it is not fair to target them unnecessarily.
“We are not looting money from the public in the name of fees like corporate colleges. We have established inter and degree colleges even in remote areas where even the government would fear to start one in the next couple of decades,” K Ramdass, Co-Convener of JAC, said.
“Also, we welcome the High Court judgment allowing raids only by officials of the Education Department, but we don’t want even plain clothes policemen to accompany them,” he added.
On Friday, the Hyderabad High Court allowed the Telangana State government to continue with inspections at private colleges but made it clear that no uniformed policemen shall accompany the teams and that the inspection shall be carried out by officials from the state Education Department.
The court has also cautioned the government not to violate the law in the name of extending good governance and questioned the government on why DGP, ACB and Vigilance departments are required for inspecting colleges.
To intensify the strike, JAC will be conducting public meetings in all the districts of Telangana, starting from Sunday in Khammam. JAC members met Principal Secretary of Education Ranjeev R Acharya on Saturday and discussed the alleged exploitation by Corporate colleges in Telangana.
‘No TET and EAMCET Without Us’
The JAC said that the state government can no no way conduct the Teacher’s Eligibility Test (TET) and EAMCET without their support. “A majority of the people writing TET belong to rural areas and with the infrastructure the government institutes have, they cannot conduct the exam. Even if they do, candidates will face many hardships,” the JAC said. “They may be able to conduct the EAMCET if they bring all the students to universities and district headquarters, but then students have to travel some 100 to 150 km to reach the centre,” the JAC added.