HYDERABAD: Asserting that his government would develop Osmania University to match Stanford and Oxford, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday announced that Rs 1,000 crore would be allocated for the purpose.
Addressing students and staff after inaugurating hostel buildings and laying the foundation stone for a library at the university, he said his government had already spent Rs 40,000 crore on education this year and would now focus on reviving OU.
A committee of professors, engineers and government officials will be formed to prepare a development plan, including recruitment, he said. “The government is ready to spend Rs 1,000 crore on Osmania University,” he added.
Revanth announced that he would return to the university in December and hold a meeting at the Arts College without police presence. “Let there be protests. We must allow the freedom to protest,” he said, adding that more funds would be released during that visit.
He accused former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of deliberately weakening the university. The Congress government, Revanth said, had already appointed vice-chancellors to all universities “ensuring social justice without controversy” and would restore OU’s past prominence.
Revanth urged the university to become a centre for research and ideological debate. “OU should become a venue for discussions on social problems. Intolerance has grown, and people are not coming forward for ideological debate,” he said.
Can’t give land, but can ensure quality education to SCs, STs, minorities: CM
Calling for younger leadership, he suggested lowering the age limit for contesting Assembly and Lok Sabha elections to 21 years. “In Telangana, 65 per cent of the population is between 18 and 35 years,” the chief minister stated.
Revanth added that education would remain the government’s primary tool for empowerment. “There is no land left to distribute, and the state treasury is empty. But I can provide education to SC, ST, BC and minority communities. Education alone can change your future,” he said.
Criticising KCR, Revanth remarked: “While he told people to graze cattle and sheep, I am asking them to become IAS and IPS officers, doctors and engineers.”
Jobs push
On employment, he said the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TGPSC) had been restructured, leading to the creation of 60,000 government jobs. Another 40,000 posts would be filled in the next
six months, he said, with a target of one lakh government jobs in two and a half years. The private sector, he added, has already created 1.5 lakh jobs.
He urged students not to believe the opposition. “I came from the people. I became Chief Minister with their blessings. I did not reach this position because of my father’s name or foreign education,” he said.
AI misused
Revanth accused BRS leaders of spreading falsehoods using artificial intelligence.
“They circulated images claiming the government was killing lions and elephants at University of Hyderabad lands in Kancha Gachibowli. There are no lions or elephants in Telangana. The only beasts are humans resting in farmhouses,” he alleged.
He warned that the BRS, if voted back to power, would sell university lands.
Calling OU “synonymous with Telangana,” the chief minister recalled its contribution to the statehood struggle and to national politics.
“PV Narasimha Rao, Jaipal Reddy, Shivraj Singh Patil, Gaddar, George Reddy and many others were OU students. Several OU students became martyrs in the Telangana movement,” he said.