Hyderabad: The Telangana police allegedly arrested several student activists from the University of Hyderabad on Wednesday, March 26, ahead of a scheduled protest led by the Students Federation of India.
The Federation highly condemned the “overreach” of the police as the arrests came early in the morning, with officials entering hostels to detain students.
The University branch of SFI stated that the arrests were made due to their demands for the Telangana Budget.
“We strongly condemn the overreach of the Telangana Police into university hostels and the arrest of SFI–HCU student activists in the context of the ongoing Telangana budget session,” the statement read.
With the Budget session currently underway in the state, the student group said the government is expected to engage with university intellectuals, listen to the voices of the poor, and consider people’s demands to formulate a “truly people-centric budget.”
However, university spaces in Telangana have now become sites fearing the government led by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and “the preacher of democracy Mr Rahul Gandhi,” the SFI said
According to them, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has failed to address people’s needs or present a genuinely pro-people budget.
The Student Federation of India claimed that the Telangana police is resorting to hostel arrests of student activists to “curb dissenting voices.”
“SFI–HCU strongly condemns this suppression of dissent by the failed Congress government in Telangana,” the students said in the statement.
Demands for release of TS-ePASS scholarships
The Federation also addressed the delay in releasing the pending TS-ePASS scholarships, a program for Telangana students pursuing higher studies. The government’s failure to release the scholarships has created severe difficulties for marginalised students in continuing their education, SFI said.
“Even in the past, when SFI and other progressive organizations raised these issues through protests, the government responded with police repression rather than addressing legitimate concerns,” it added.
Congress govt using state budget for corporate interests: SFI
Rather than offering an alternative mode of governance, the SFI alleged that the Congress government is taking advantage of the state budget to benefit its corporate interests, “similar to BJP governments.”
“It has failed to prioritise people’s welfare and is instead diverting public resources for political purposes,” the statement said.
It cited the various advertisements the Telangana government reportedly issued in Malayalam to promote and support the Congress government in Kerala. They stated that it reflects a “misuse” of public funds for political gains.
The Student Federation of India reiterated its demand for allocating 30 per cent of the state budget to the education sector, reaffirming that the Direct Benefit Transfer under TS-ePASS must be withdrawn.
Scholarships should be increased, and funds must be disbursed promptly, the students added.
Direct Benefit Transfer is when government funds are directly sent to the beneficiary’s linked individual bank account, such as students from the Scheduled Caste, in the case of TS-ePASS.
However, since the government changed the mode of accepting scholarship funds to the DBT method from the academic year 2024-2-25 onwards, these students have been required to pay the full amount of their tuition fees or mess charges if applicable, regardless of whether they are a social welfare scholarship holder or not.
ABVP normalised police presence in campus
The Students Federation further said that the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) led students’ union “enabled police entry into campus spaces, which later became normalised.”
The union reportedly remained silent and inactive when the police entered hostels and restricted students’ movements at the University.
“This reflects its inefficiency and failure to represent student interests,” the SFI said.
