Anantapur: SFI calls for bandh after police lathi-charge students

Hyderabad: Student unions of Sri Sai Baba National Degree College (SSBNDC) in Anantapur have called for a bandh (shutdown) today in protest against police for resorting to lathi-charge (caning) when students opposed the privatization of the college.

On November 8, the students and the student union leaders of SSBN college were protesting against the alleged option given by the college management to give up their government-aided status. According to The Hindu report, about 500 students supported by the student organization student’s federation of India (SFI) gathered at the main gate of the SSBN college to protest the management’s decision.

The Anantapur police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse a large gathering of college students. The lathi of one police person hit the head of a girl student Navya, who got bleeding injuries. She was taken to hospital where she got four stitches on her head injury. Videos showed cops caning students and even dragging a student by his collar to the police vehicle.

The student accuse circle inspector Reddappa of resorting to the lathi charge which resulted in injury to two other students also, while they were agitating peacefully against the privatization of the aided sections in the college and claimed that it would increase their college fees enormously.

President of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and leader of the opposition N Chandrababu Naidu tweeted the canning video and condemned police brutality against peaceful protesting students and said it is very unfair to torture students who agitate to protect their educational institution.

On September 24, the state government of Andhra Pradesh gave an option to the government-aided colleges to surrender their aided posts and get derecognized and continue as private colleges. The students opposed the decision of SSBN college chairman PLN Reddy, to fully privatize the college as the majority of the students were from very poor backgrounds.

A Philanthropist, the late Sirivaram Adinarayana Rao started the institution as a school in the year 1944 and later in 1981 SSBN college was established. The foremost aim of the college while establishing was to provide quality higher education available to all and especially poor and underprivileged classes at a very reasonable and affordable fee in the district.