Hyderabad: The current and former chief ministers of Telangana, A Revanth Reddy and K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) were at loggerheads over the closure of hostels and mess at the Osmania University (OU) over the shortage of water and electricity.
The row erupted after students in the university protested over a notice issued by the chief warden (hostels & messes) stating that due to water and electricity shortages, hostels and messes would be shut between May 1 to May 31.
“The University vide Lr. No.226/Stats./Acad/2024, dt. 18.03.2024, has declared summer vacation and hence the boarders of campus hostels & messes are hereby informed that the hostels & messes will be closed w.e.f. 01.05.2024 to 31.05.2024. Also due to the severe summer, there is a shortage of water and electricity in the Hostels. All the boarders are requested kindly to co-operate in this regard,” a notice issued by the chief warden read.
Immediately after the notice, several students proceeded to the university’s administrative building demanding clarification from the authorities on the university’s holiday declaration and hostel closures.
Protests were held by student groups on Sunday, April 28, demanding a rollback of the chief warden’s decision.
KCR slams Congress government
Reacting to the development, BRS chief KCR slammed the Congress-led state government on X.
“Telangana CM and Dy CM were misleading the people on power, irrigation and drinking water supply in the state for the past 4 months. Notice of Osmania University Chief Warden confirms that all their claims were farce. The truth is that there is power, drinking water and irrigation water crisis in Telangana,” KCR said on X.
TSSPDCL responds
Southern Power Distribution Company officials sent a letter to Prof. D. Ravinder, the Vice Chancellor of OU, stating that the chief warden’s notification regarding a power supply shortage was an effort to mislead students and the public.
“It has been reported in some media that the chief warden of hostels and messes, Osmania university has issued a notice declaring summer vacation and closing hostels & messes from 01.05.24 to 31.05.24. The notice has further alleged about shortage of electricity. It is hereby informed that such a claim is false and has been published without verification of facts.
It also said that the university campus has a continuous power supply from two dedicated 11KV feeders from the 33/11 KV Osmania University substation.
“Further, it has been verified by the readings recorded in the meter of the substation transformers, that there is continuous and uninterrupted power supply to the university campus. The stated notice of the chief warden, hostels & messes, Osmania University was completely devoid of facts about the power supply. Further, The Registrar, of Osmania University has promptly issued a show-cause notice to the chief warden (hostels & messes) wherein it was clarified that there is no shortage of power in the vniversity premises. Therefore, it is informed that there is continuous power supply from TSSPDCL to the entire campus of Osmania University including the above-mentioned hostels & messes without any shortage,” it read.
Revanth responds
In response, Revanth on Tuesday, April 30, compared KCR to Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi minister of propaganda under Adolf Hitler and said that a similar notice of closure was given during the KCR led BRS regime in 2023.
He also posted the notice issued by the chief warden in 2023.
“Looking at KCR, it feels like Goebbels is born again. After lies in Suryapet and Mahabubnagar, he is now trying his best to spread wrong information about Osmania University. Even in May 2023, when KCR was chief minister, the chief warden of the university issued a similar notice regarding the closure of hostels and messes for a month in connection with summer vacations. ( dated 12-05-2023 to 05-06-2023). It also mentioned about shortage of electricity and water. His rhetoric that the Osmania university has been shut down only after the Congress has come to power is the zenith of his bankrupt propaganda,” he said in a post on X.
