Representatives and members of various student organisations staged a protest at Lenin Centre here against the government’s decision regarding aided educational institutions on Thursday.
The protesters’ bid to march to the Assembly in Velagapudi as part of the ‘Chalo Assembly’ call was foiled by the police.
Mild tension prevailed as the protesters were detained by the police. Student activists of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Progressive Democratic Students’ Union (PDSU), All India Students’ Federation (AISF), All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) and Telugu Nadu Students’ Federation (TNSF) were detained and sent to various police stations in and around the city.
The students demanded withdrawal of government orders 42, 50 and 51 of the Education Department issued in connection with aided institutions.
SFI State general secretary G. Ranganna, AISF State vice-president Johnson Babu, PDSU State president R. Ravi Chandra and AIDSO State secretary V. Harish Kumar led the protests. They said the Jagan Mohan Reddy government’s main intention behind taking over the aided institutions was to take over their assets. With the government’s decision, several aided institutions would turn into private institutions and students would be burdened, they said.
This change in the management of the institutions would adversely impact over 3.4 lakh students in the State, they said.
