Laptop Theft Throws Light on CRR College’s Status

Hyderabad: The public glare that the theft of 60 laptops brought on the C.R. Rao Advanced Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science led to several questions about how a private education institution was being run in the University of Hyderabad (UoH) campus in Gachibowli, without clear public disclosure on approvals, reservations and oversight.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, the students said that the theft highlighted the lack of UoH’s administrative control on the CRR building. “When student representatives approached university authorities seeking clarity, they were told the C.R. Rao Institute did not fall under the university’s security purview and had a separate security arrangement.”

In a written representation to the registrar of the University of Hyderabad, the Ambedkar Students’ Association (ASA) sought detailed information on a BTech programme being run on campus in collaboration with the CR Rao Institute and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU).

The association said the programme appeared to be functioning without visible compliance with mandatory government norms, including reservation policies. “It is not about opposing new courses, any programme run inside a public university must follow constitutional mandates, especially reservation and transparency,” one of the student leaders said.

Students asked the university to clarify who was overseeing the course, how admissions were conducted, whether UGC or AICTE approvals existed, what the fee structure was, and how financial accountability is ensured. They also sought a copy of any memorandum of understanding governing the collaboration.

Students said repeated attempts to seek responses from university authorities had gone unanswered. “Even basic questions about who is responsible for the course or security of the building have no clear answers,” the student representative said.

The issue, they argued, goes beyond the theft itself.

Running a technical programme inside a Central university without publicly available information on reservations, admissions and regulatory approvals, they said, risks excluding students from marginalised communities and weakens trust in institutional governance.