Leader of Opposition in Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir today said apathy of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao towards Osmania University students led to cancellation of the Indian Science Congress, which was scheduled to be held on OU campus next month.
Speaking to the media at Gandhi Bhavan, the Congress leader said it was bad for Education sector in the State. He charged KCR with using the OU students for Telangana movement and disowned them. The cancellation and shifting of the ISC to Manipur came after the OU Vice-chancellor expressed his inability to conduct the program allegedly following the State government’s refusal to fund and give security support.
He claimed that the OU had received delegates’ fees from over 12,000 scientists and some 16,000 had booked their flight tickets and hotels in the State capital. ‘The cancellation of the convention at a short notice was a major setback to the University’, he said. He asked can’t the Telangana police give security to the ISC when it gave adequate security to US President’s advisor Ivanka Trump for GES. He reminded that the previous Congress government had given full support to Bio-diversity congress in spite of Telangana agitation then.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Council advised the Chief Minister to impress upon the Prime Minister to organize the ISC on OU campus and cancel Manipur which was smaller than Nizamabad district in Telangana. Otherwise, the Congress would support any agitation if OU students, intellectuals, scientists and academicians choose to protest against the State government’s failure to safeguard the prestige of the state.