Hyderabad: The administration has been completely derailed in Osmania University. A recent incident which exemplifies the issue is locking up of Arts College Principal Prof. Ashok Naidu in his office by some students last Saturday.
The students were demanding a decrease in mess deposit. Prof Naidu said that he had even tendered his resignation earlier because this was not a one-off incident and students regularly resort to intimidation and disrespectful behaviour not just with him but with other staff members too.
Arts College is being run with just the Principal, the appointment of the vice-principal has been pending for long.
The issue of mess and hostel deposit is a never-ending one in Osmania University. Students can be seen regularly entering the offices of the principles of the colleges, most of the time not for academic reasons but to negotiate the hostel issues.
The students who locked up the principal were those who are in the second year of their second post-graduation in Arts College.
As double PG students do not receive social welfare scholarships, they had been protesting against the mess deposit of Rs 10,000 which every boarder has to pay.
This amount was reduced to Rs 5,000 by the university for double-PG students studying in the second year. However, the students who locked up Prof. Naidu demanded that it be further reduced to Rs 3,000, which he did not accept saying that it was not in his hands. About 100 double PG students in Arts College are yet to pay the mess deposit.
It can be recalled that a few months ago there was an attack on the Principal of Science College on the issue of hostel admissions. A professor from Arts College said, “There are around 60 organisations in the university and there is anarchy with no fear of authority. Most of the students who lead these organisations demand that they be treated like VIPs.”
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