The students of IIIT Basara in the Nirmal district are up in arms against the Telangana government for leaving their institution orphaned with no proper infrastructure or ambience for them to study.

The IIIT Basara has been at the receiving end for quite some time now. It has no regular Vice-Chancellor and the ad-hoc administration neither has the funds nor the powers to take up any work that would ameliorate the conditions on the campus.

The students cried foul recently when a dead frog appeared in their food. They say that they find insects in their food almost every day and no one bothers to listen to their plight.

The students who began protesting the apathetic attitude of the State government on Tuesday, June 14, continued their agitation for the second day on the institution's campus on Wednesday, June 15, insisting that the government should accept all their 12 demands.

While most of the students boycotted classes and staged their protest in front of the administrative office, some tried to continue their agitation outside the campus, but the police stepped in and confined them to the campus.

Talks have begun
District Collector Mushraff Ali Faruqi, Assistant Superintendent of Police Kiran Khare and IIT Basara AO Rajeshwar Rao conferred with the student union leaders for about two hours each in the morning and the evening, assuring them that they would take their demands to the notice of the IIIT Basara in-charge Vice-Chancellor and the government.

For the starters, the officials promised to release Rs 10 to Rs 20 lakh for library development and the provision of laptops but the students remained unimpressed. They argued that it was a pittance considering the kind of facelift the library needed. They said the money would not be sufficient to buy the necessary equipment for the laboratories.

The students insisted that they wanted a full-fledged VC for the institution so that problems at the campus level could be sorted out immediately. While demanding for vacant faculty posts to be filled immediately, they wanted an immediate end to the ad-hoc administration.

The students made no bones about their intention to continue their agitation till their demands are conceded. They decried the threat of action against the protesting students if they did not mend their ways and call off the protest.

A student leader said: "We want better infrastructure. The government has not done it so far. We are only trying to bring to the notice what our institution is badly in need of."

He complained that even though they send mails to the Collector on deficiencies in their institution, no action was taken so far.

The parents of students who reached the institution were prevented by police from entering the campus. They were then taken to the bus station and asked to return home. Police also refused to let the media or the politicians enter the campus.

Ministers' assurance
Minister of Urban Development KT Rama Rao, learning about the unrest on the campus, tweeted that their problems would be taken to the notice of the Education Minister P Sabhita Indra Reddy who, in turn, said that their problems were very minor in nature and that they would be addressed immediately. She appealed to the students to call off agitation and attend classes.

Meanwhile, Adilabad BJP MP Soyam Bapu Rao submitted a memorandum to Governor Tamilisai Sounderrajan in Hyderabad, seeking her intervention for the resolution of IIIT Basra issues.

What are their demands?
1)Appoint a regular Vìce-Chancellor

2) Fill all vacant posts

3) Laptops/desktops and projectors for students in all classrooms.

4) Provide all facilities like uniforms shoes, beds in hostel rooms

5) Education based on IT

6) Revival of PUC blocks and Hostel

7) Provide Internet, electricity, and plumbing

8) Measure to break the monopoly of one agency in the canteen

9) Provide PED and PET posts

10) Collaboration with various institutions

11) Immediate repair to fans damaged in classrooms