OU gears up for ‘T Bachao’ campaign

HYDERABAD: The Osmania University, once a hotbed of Telangana statehood protests, is now gearing up for a massive campaign against the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government, beginning with a ‘garjana’ rally on December 5.
Steering the “Telangana Bachao” campaign, several student wings have come together to demand that the government address raging issues such as education and employment that have been in a state of limbo ever since the formation of the state.“OU students have been demanding the setting up of a Public Service Commission to announce one lakh jobs, which the TRS promised in its manifesto. Six months into its term, the government has failed to do this,” said Kalyan, president of Osmania University Nirudyoga Joint Action Committee.
The body has now called for Telangana Nirudyogula Garjana, a meet similar in name and spirit to Telangana Vidyarthi Garjana that took place on the same campus in 2009 with TRS’s blessings.
The TRS government’s loyalty to two lakh contract employees who had cast their votes for it, has also irked students, who are now asking the government not to regularize these jobs.
Interestingly, growing student anger against TRS has also resulted in the voice of the party’s student wing, TRS-Vidyarthi Vibhag, getting muted. Recently, a group of students led by BJP’s student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad disrupted a blood donation camp organized by TRSVV. TRS MP and former student Balka Suman had attended the event. “If the TRS government had kept its promises, such an occurrence would never have happened on campus,” Azad, a student leader from Progressive Democratic Students’ Union said. While TRS had poached into some of PDSU’s cadre, the party failed to build on the early leads it gained.
The anger of students against the government policies has not come as a surprise for faculty members and political think tanks of OU. “Students are raising a genuine demand for jobs and the government has so far failed to deliver it. While there could be political players who are taking advantage of the situation to strengthen their base on campus, we cannot say that ordinary students on campus are indulging in political vendetta. If the government meets their demands, these students could support TRS,” said M Kodandaram, chairman, Telangana Joint Action Committee, who has been a faculty member of OU.
Students are raising a genuine demand for jobs and the government has so far failed to deliver. While there could be political players who are taking advantage of the situation to strengthen their base on campus, we cannot say that ordinary students on campus are indulging in political vendetta.