MANUU expels 16 students from hostel

Hyderabad: Maulana Azad National Urdu University here has expelled 16 students from the hostel till the end of their course work besides levying a penalty of Rs 4,000. The move by the university administration comes following a protest over the issue of boys’ hostel mess bills on June 6 and 7 on the university campus. […]

Hyderabad: Maulana Azad National Urdu University here has expelled 16 students from the hostel till the end of their course work besides levying a penalty of Rs 4,000. The move by the university administration comes following a protest over the issue of boys’ hostel mess bills on June 6 and 7 on the university campus.

As part of the protest demanding reduction of mess bills, the students, according to the university, forcefully closed the University’s main gate and barred the entry of staff besides other stakeholders causing inconvenience to residents and delegates who were to attend a seminar on the campus.

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Following this incident, the university constituted a fact-finding committee which conducted an independent probe.

According to an order issued by the varsity on Thursday, based on the severity of the offence and response of students before the fact-finding committee, the committee recommended punishment based on the degree of involvement in the protest. The punishment ranged from a penalty of Rs 4,000 to no readmission in MANUU, expulsion from hostel till the end of the course and being barred from contesting elections in future besides an apology letter.

As per the MANUU Students Union, nearly 50 students were called before the Committee and 30 students were punished for protesting and demanding the varsity to reduce mess charges.

“Every month, the mess bills come to Rs 2,200. However, the bill was hiked to Rs 3,000 in June.

Students in the university come from economically weaker sections and cannot afford to pay such inflated bills. During a meeting with administration, students wanted reduction in mess bills. The officials orally assured us that no action will be taken against students for the protest. But now they have issued orders imposing Rs.5,000 fine on student union leaders and Rs.4,000 for other students besides expulsion from the hostel,” MANUU Students union vice president Md Abuhamza said. The students demanded the university to immediately revoke the order on punishment.

Speaking to Telangana Today, MANUU Proctor, Dr. Mohammed Abdul Azeem said 16 students were expelled from the hostel till the end of their course as a punishment for their “indiscipline” on the campus. “Most of them have completed their course and two-three students will enter into third semester,” he added.