A massive protest march and a public meeting was organised by the ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) students at the Parade Grounds in Hyderabad, as per The New Indian Express.
The event received an impressive turnout from the student community coming from several regions of the state, on Tuesday, August 2. Approximately, 86,000 students participated in the public meeting to raise the issues that are affecting the educational landscape of the state.
The students and leaders voiced their concerns over the lack of adequate facilities in schools and colleges, fee reimbursements and employment issues, which they claimed, has led to a state of betrayal and stagnation in the education sector.
Demands
The ABVP leaders present at the meeting demanded the release of pending fee reimbursements to the tune of Rs 5,300 crore and scholarship arrears, enhancement of post-matric scholarships, the enactment of a fee regulation act, and the prohibition of corporate educational institutions from operating solely as businesses.
The student body also raised demands for improved accommodation facilities in social welfare hostels and gurukuls, the reopening of 8,624 state government schools which have been shut down, the reversal of fee hike, which they claim is 1400 per cent, in educational institutions, safeguarding of public lands and the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Student leaders speaking up
The gathering was addressed by Yagyavalkya Shukla, National General Secretary of ABVP, who criticised the state Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for not paying attention to the basic needs of the students, and said that the government is operating with several flaws and stances of mismanagement being clearly evident.
He emphasised that ABVP will certainly make the state government realise its mistakes, also reminding that the organisation has had a long history of standing for the rights of the students and waging mass movements to hold governments accountable whenever power has been abused.
Ashish Chauhan, ABVP National Organising Secretary, alleged that the state government has failed in recognising the needs of the people, given that almost all sectors in the state have been on the decline including education and agriculture, he pointed out that even in the Information Technology (IT) sector, Telangana has fallen to the fifth place in the rankings as compared to previous years.
The ABVP's State Secretary, Jhansi, spoke on the ongoing unemployment crisis and vowed that ABVP in Telangana will fight strongly until the demands of the students are met. At the end of the meeting, she sent an open letter to the CM, demanding him to urgently address these demands.
