Governor diagnoses IIIT Basar disease, to pressurise TS

ADILABAD: Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Sunday said she was a good doctor and could diagnose problems and rectify them, while referring to the student's problems at IIIT-Basar.  

Dr Soundararajan visited the campus and interacted with students, staff, and non-teaching staff, and had breakfast with the students. She offered puja to Goddess Saraswati at the temple on Sunday morning after arriving from Hyderabad. The Governor met in-charge Vice Chancellor Prof. Venkata Ramana and director Satish Kumar of IIIT-Basar.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Soundararajan said she would mount pressure on the state government to see that students' problems got resolved soon, while expressing her displeasure over poor state of basic amenities. The Governor assured the students that the highest office in the state was with them.  

The Governor said she came as a mother to the campus after learning about the problems faced by students and would act as a catalyst.

Speaking to mediapersons, the Governor said there was a need to improve facilities on the campus where 8,500 students study. Providing laptops to students was stopped in 2017 and now they wanted laptops and materials to participate in sports, she said.  

“Students want good food, washrooms, and hostel rooms. These are basic needs for the students but unfortunately they are not being taken care of. Authorities must work out to solve the problems in a time-bound manner since many students come from economically marginal backgrounds and many of them are malnourished,” Dr Soundararajan said.   

She said there were some security problems for the students after they participated in the agitation and were unable to move freely on the campus.

Responding to a question about why she was meeting the media outside the campus and why officials were not following protocol, Dr Soundararajan said, “You all know that it is an open secret. Where is the protocol? You have to tell me.”

“The state’s highest office should be respected. I don’t want to say much about that. The problems faced by students at IIIT Basar should not be deviated from, into a constitutional violation problem. But everything should be put in order,” Dr Soundararajan added.

The authorities and police officials present at the temple and on the Basar IIIT campus did not allow mediapersons to accompany the Governor inside the campus. Only the staff of the Raj Bhavan who came along with the Governor were allowed at the temple and on the IIIT campus.

Senior police officers and the district collector were not present to receive the Governor on her arrival in Basar. At one point in time, the Governor expressed her displeasure with the police personnel for overreacting and not allowing media at the temple. The police also did not allow BJP senior leaders to meet the Governor at the temple and on the IIIT campus. BJP leaders Rama Devi and Narayana Reddy alleged that there was a big scam in the Basar IIIT affairs and that was why authorities and police did not allow them to meet the Governor.