SC hostel students stage protest

HYDERABAD: Around 150 students residing at a social welfare hostel in Amberpet took to the streets on Saturday morning and protested stating that the owner of the rented building that they moved into eight months ago was no longer able to provide basic facilities.

They claimed that the Social Welfare Department officials failed to pay the rent from the time they moved here and hence they resorted to the protest. Some of the students were detained by Malakpet Police as the protest led to a traffic jam in the early hours at Moosarambagh crossroads.  

The three-storey hostel building is home to SC students from various parts of Telangana. These students are pursuing their education in various government and corporate colleges and some of them are pursuing other professional courses in the city. “We met Hyderabad district collector Yogitha Rana and also the deputy director of department, Hanumanth Naik, several times.

We also told them about the issues we are facing. They have only been saying that they will soon clear the dues, but nothing has been done so far,” said Y Srinu, a student who stays at the hostel. The students have been dealing with power outages, leaking taps and broken latches in the washrooms as the owner is short of money to get the repairs done.  

Meanwhile, Hanumanth Naik, when contacted, said that the dues will be cleared in the next one week. He also said that the students were aware of this fact.  Naik also informed that the payment of rent was delayed as the documents related to the building were not submitted to the department on time and enured that the students would be moved to a new building soon.