MLA Kadiyam Srihari opposes GO 97, expresses concerns over polytechnics merger

Station Ghanpur MLA Kadiyam Srihari urged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to revoke GO 97 order, stressing that polytechnic education should remain linked to engineering and AICTE norms rather than the Labour Department.

Jangaon: Government Polytechnic Colleges’ students, who were up in arms against the Congress government’s efforts to merge the colleges with Young India Skill University (YISU), received support from unlikely quarters as Station Ghanpur MLA Kadiyam Srihari opposed GO 97.

It might be noted that the government released GO 97 recently to move government polytechnics along with ITIs under the newly formed Skill, Human Capital and Knowledge Training Initiatives (SHAKTI) Department, linking them to the YISU under a public-private partnership (PPP) model. Students across the State opposed it.

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The MLA Srihari, speaking at a programme at Station Ghanpur on Saturday, urged the Congress government to revoke GO 97. He said as a former Education Minister, he wanted polytechnic education to remain integrated with engineering education and it should not be brought under the purview of the Labour and Employment Department.

The proposed move to bring polytechnic education under the Labour and Employment Department has created unnecessary apprehensions among students, who were worried that they would end up as labourers if the government proceeds with its move.

Although the government’s intentions were good, the students view themselves as future engineers destined for white-collar jobs, not roles associated with the labour sector. Their perspective was also valid and that was why the government should desist from merging polytechnic colleges with YISU, Srihari noted.

The MLA asked chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to look into the matter and withdraw the GO 97 keeping the future of the polytechnic students. He suggested that the committee constituted by the government to address the issue should consider continuing polytechnic college under the technical education stream with an option for lateral entry into engineering colleges.

Across the country, polytechnic colleges operate under the AICTE; it would be beneficial if the same system was followed in Telangana as well. The students were currently harbouring misconceptions and were anxious and there was a need to clear up these misunderstandings, he added.