Ramanthapur polytechnic students protest over merger with Young India Skills University

Students of Government Polytechnic Ramanthapur staged a protest against GO MS 97, demanding that polytechnics not be merged with Young India Skills University. They raised concerns over fee hikes, lateral entry and the future of government polytechnic education.

Hyderabad: Tension prevailed at the Government Polytechnic Ramanthapur here on Thursday as students staged a massive protest demanding that the Telangana Congress government revoke the GO MS 97 that merges polytechnics with the Young India Skills University (YISU) under the Shakti department.

A heated argument and confrontational atmosphere were witnessed when the police attempted to stop students from protesting. A scuffle ensued as the police personnel tried to disperse the crowd. Several students lost their balance due to commotion and sustained minor injuries.

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Angered by the police action, students intensified their protest, resulting in the police closing the college’s main gates. Media personnel who reached the college to cover the protest were barred from entering the institution premises.

Ever since the State government issued the GO MS 97, integrating the polytechnics with the YISU that has been established under the public-private partnerships, polytechnic students and staff have been up in arms. They have been demanding the government protect the existing government polytechnic education system, and not merge or integrate government polytechnics with YISU in a way that adversely affects students. They also demanded the government protect the academic and career opportunities of diploma students.

Students are apprehensive that tuition fees will be exorbitantly hiked if the polytechnics are merged with the YISU. They also expressed concerns about scrapping lateral entry into the undergraduate engineering programmes. Both students and staff have been demanding the government to continue the polytechnics under the State Board of Technical Education and Training and Technical Education Department.