Students protest, flag poor infra at Andhra University; VC assures ‘phased repairs’
Students of Andhra University (AU), led by the Students Federation of India (SFI), staged a protest on Wednesday over long-pending infrastructure problems in hostels and
Students of Andhra University (AU), led by the Students Federation of India (SFI), staged a protest on Wednesday over long-pending infrastructure problems in hostels and on the campus roads. Vice-Chancellor G.P. Raja Sekhar met a delegation at the administrative building the same day and outlined a phased repair and modernisation plan. According to Tarun, SFI vice-president at AU, heavy rain in the past few days caused water seepage and plaster to fall from the ceiling in 18 to 20 rooms on the second floor of the Satavahana Hostel, which houses Arts College students.
“Students could not sleep peacefully in their rooms, not knowing when the plaster would fall next,” he said. He also questioned the university’s practice of collecting a hostel development fee of ₹5,500 a year from students, alleging that about ₹3,200 of it was being diverted to pay daily-wage workers, an expense he said the university ought to bear itself. “This development fund has brought no development that we can see,” he added. G. Ajay, SFI district secretary, Visakhapatnam, alleged that washrooms in several hostels and departments, including the Chemistry department, remained unusable despite repeated representations to the Registrar.
He said poor street lighting on several campus roads posed a safety risk, particularly for women students walking between hostels and the library at night. Pragathi, a quantum engineering student, said the Maharani Peta, Nagarjuna and Vidya Tarangini hostels for women faced similar hygiene and food quality concerns, with insufficient and unhygienic washrooms, and food often served stale. Responding to the grievances, Mr. Raja Sekhar said the university was carrying out modernisation of hostels, mess halls and toilets “in a phased manner” and that affected students at Satavahana Hostel had already been moved to rooms on the lower floors, with repairs to begin during the Dasara vacation.
Campus electrification work was under way to address lighting concerns, he said, while internal road repairs, delayed partly by a shortage of raw material and the need for repeat tendering in some cases, would begin this week. Citing approvals granted at a governing council meeting held on Tuesday, the Vice-Chancellor said the university would build separate hostels for men and women, with capacities of 1,100 and 900, respectively, along with a “mega mess”.
The BriefWire