The Ambedkar Students' Association in the University of Hyderabad has sent complaint letters to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Women and National Council for Human Rights over the shutting down of their hostels. ASA has previously written to the administration demanding the reopening of the hostels that were shut for the summer despite the students paying for their stay till June 30.
The administration had issued a circular to the students stating that those who wished to stay through the summer would have to pay extra and also shift their rooms to other hostels. But the ASA has said in their statement that the students had already paid the room rent including water and electricity charges up till June 30. The university said the students have to shift their rooms because there was a shortage of money, water and electricity.
"The university has not been able to convince students how the same number of persons if staying in a single hostel rather than different hostels would use a considerably different amount of electricity and water. If any difference is there it can only be minimal," the students write in their letter.
Most students that stay back during the summer are those who are preparing for exams and those working on their thesis. The students who are preparing for exams stay back because they have access to the library and the mess and their home situations might not always be conducive for studying. Financially and family-wise, the students from SC, ST backgrounds could be disadvantaged and therefore prefer to stay back on campus.
"These are students who use the library for improvement examinations. Integrated students who have one or two papers left, they have to do a summer course to compensate for that to not lose a year. This closing a majority of hostels run against the interest of the students in general and marginalised students in particular," the letter reads.
The statement also criticised the administration for making excuses about not having enough funds when the VC was allegedly spending it on himself. "The VC supposedly spent five lakh rupees for curtains in his official residence and four lakhs on security and 14 lakhs for his visits outside the city. This shows us that the university can go to any extent for these luxuries for VC," the student group wrote.
Signed by the ASA President, Samson Gidla, the letter concludes by seeking the intervention to the national bodies so as the students are allowed to stay in their hostels with all the basic amenities provided to them.
