UoH students allege varsity is charging for quarantine; oppose move

Hyderabad: Students of University of Hyderabad (UoH) have alleged that the varsity is charging Rs 500 per day to COVID-19 positive students who are being quarantined in the guest house of the campus.

In a letter to the Vice-Chancellor of the University P. Appa Rao, UoH students’ union wrote, “The students who are COVID-19 positive are being quarantined in the university guest house. These students are being charged Rs. 500 per day. In these unprecedented conditions, it is not possible for students to pay Rs. 5000-6000 for their quarantine.”

The union also pointed out that the students who were quarantined were not even provided food and other facilities.

Drop charges immediately: Union

It asked the university to immediately drop the fee for quarantine and provide the guest house free of cost. It has also called for a social media protest to press for its demands ahead of the meeting of Academic Council scheduled to be held on December 22.

On the other hand, the university officials said that it is not a quarantine charge, but a regular fee for availing the guest house.

Spokesperson of UoH, Professor Vinod Pavarala said that students who cannot afford the fee can approach the university authority for the relief.

Other issues

Apart from the guest house fee issue, the Union demanded resolving online classes issues, implementation of COVID-19 prevention protocol, better healthcare facilities, the phase-wise reopening of campus for all disciplines, relaxation of tuition fee, lab fee, development fee, zero backlog issue and optometry internship issue.