Telangana education minister’s assurances end IIIT Basara students’ protest

Minister Sabitha Reddy, days after calling their demands ‘silly’, did an about-turn and met with student representatives to discuss their demands

Over 7,000 students of IIIT Basara called off their week-long agitation after Telangana education minister Sabitha Reddy assured them all their demands would be resolved gradually.

The students had boycotted classes demanding better food, improved amenities at the hostel, appointment of regular faculty, and a full-time Vice-Chancellor to address their issues from within the campus.

The minister had earlier termed the students’ demands as “silly”, aggravating the situation, and giving the opposing parties of BJP and Congress a chance to accuse the TRS government of neglecting the state’s education sector.

Students complained that the authorities had cut off water supply to their buildings to force them to withdraw their protest. Braving the threats, and the fickle weather, the pre-university level students continued their sit-in on campus premises, which was cordoned off by a heavy contingent of police.

The breakthrough in the protest came past midnight on Tuesday, after Reddy and other education department officials held talks with the student council leaders, which ran for over three hours.

“Since the minister assured us that our issues would be resolved at the earliest, we have decided to withdraw our agitation. They said faculty recruitment could begin soon, while appointment of a regular vice-chancellor could happen in a month. The minister also assured us that she would visit the campus in a month to review the progress. We hope the government commits to its word,” said a student representative after the meeting.

Government officials said they were releasing Rs 5.6 crore as an immediate measure.

One of the protesting students’ 12 demands was that chief minister K Chandrasehkar Rao visit the campus and see for himself the institute’s miserable condition. A video from inside a boys’ hostel showed broken water and sewer lines, lack of running water and missing taps in the bathrooms and toilets. The footage also showed that dormitories had damaged floors and ceilings, and doors without latches.

The students’ frequent complaints about inadequate laboratory, library and other learning facilities, and finding dead frogs and insects in hostel food were not addressed.

IIIT Basara, officially known as Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, offers a six-year integrated course after Class 10, that leads to a B.Tech. degree. The institute was established with the objective of providing technical education to meritorious students from rural regions.

It was alleged that the TRS regime has been ignoring the institute, which started in 2008 when YS Rajasekhara Reddy was at the helm before Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh.

There has been no regular VC at IIIT Basara since February 2015.

The students’ peaceful protest earned them public praise at a time when the state saw violent agitations at Secunderabad railway station, by Army job aspirants against the Agnipath scheme.