Osmania University holiday extension leaves students in the lurch

HYDERABAD: The decision of Osmania University to extend the holidays has left students who returned to the campus after the Dasara vacation in the lurch.

Angered over this, over 100 students staged a sit-in protest on Tuesday, demanding that the management roll back its decision and start mess facilities in the hostels. The students, who had come from rural Telangana, claimed that the hostel had been without power since Monday and that the mess facilities had been shut down.

They claimed there had been no prior notice of the holiday extension. The majority of students are preparing for competitive exams, with the Group 1 exam scheduled for October 16.

A student who is pursuing law said the management was playing with the lives of students who came from rural areas to pursue higher studies in the university.

“Most of the students are preparing for the Group 1 exam which is scheduled to be held on October 16. We came to the campus with the hope to prepare for the exam, but the management has shattered our hopes,” he said.

A BEd student stated that the Vice-Chancellor was unwilling to listen to their concerns and that they were prevented from meeting him. He claimed that the V-C had used the police to thwart their efforts to contact him. "Management is doing injustice to us and suppressing our basic rights," he said.

Meanwhile, the OU administration stated that they had issued an almanac for all PG courses I and III and informed every department on the campus of the holiday extension. According to campus officials, the semester exams were recently completed, and the campus has approved holidays until October 25.

Classes for both new batches and old students will begin on October 26, they said.