About 150 students owing allegiance to Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) laid siege to the house of HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao at MVP Colony here on Monday demanding improvement of facilities in the hostels provided to SC, ST and BC students.
Mild tension broke out at the place as the police were caught unawares about the protest. With the students squatting before the Sector-4 house of the Minister, a large posse of police force from III Town and other places were rushed to take control of the situation.
The police drove away the students, most of them girls, and picked up a few for detention when they kept on raising slogans in protest against lackadaisical attitude of the authorities towards their problems. They said repeated representations by them for improvement in food served to them had fallen on deaf ears.
ABVP State Working Committee member T.N. Raju, city secretary Y. Sai and Andhra University unit convener Nani said they were being paid a daily mess expenditure of ₹30 when inmates in jails were being served food worth ₹100.
They demanded supply of quality rice, sanction of own buildings, steps to avoid overcrowding in hostels, filling of vacant posts and regular release of scholarship amount.