Published Nov 15, 2022 | 8:20 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 15, 2022 | 8:22 PM
Nizam College students sit on a protest for hostel facilities. (Supplied)
After facing continuous protests for over a fortnight, the Telangana government on Tuesday, 15 November, agreed to the demand for 100 percent hostel facility accommodation of undergraduate (UG) students of the Nizam College in Hyderabad.
The college released a notification about starting admission for UG girl students in the hostel and asked them to apply.
This comes days after students of the 135-year-old eminent educational institution rejected the 50-percent hostel facility offer from the Telangana government and continued their stir.
A total of 10 girls — representatives of the students — also met Telangana Education Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy at her office in Basheer Bagh on Tuesday.
The issue came to the limelight when Reddy gave assurances to resolve the matter in response to a tweeted message by the state’s IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on 8 November.
#JUSTIN: After 15 days of continuous protests, #NizamCollege opened hostel admission for 2nd & 3rd year UG girls. Last date to apply 19 Nov & list said to come on 23 Nov. #NizamhostelforUGgirls #Hyderabad
"All UG girls will get admission," official to @TheSouthfirst. pic.twitter.com/w3RNCREIes
— Ajay Tomar (@ajaytomarasks) November 15, 2022
The new hostel at Nizam College (Ajay Tomar/South First).
As per the notification released by Nizam College, which is affiliated with Osmania University, the hostel admissions are open for second and third-year girl students.
“As directed by the Hon’ble Minister of Education, Telangana State, all the UG 2nd and 3rd-year girl students are informed to apply for hostel admission on or before 19-11-2022 [sic],” the notification read.
Confirming the news to South First, a college official said, “All UG girls who will apply will get the hostel first. The list of selected girls is expected to come out on 23 November.”
The students attributed the decision to the nearly 20-minute meeting of their representatives with the minister.
“The minister asked us about the issue in front of the VC sir (Vice-Chancellor D Ravinder) and Principal sir (B Bhima). Then she asked VC sir to allot the hostel to the UG girls first. If there is any vacancy after that, PG (postgraduate) girl students will be accommodated,” Navya George, a second-year psychology student who was present at the meeting told South First.
#Telangana: Edu minister @SabithaindraTRS met representatives of protesting #NizamCollege students in #Hyderabad. #NizamhostelforUGgirls
"She asked our issue & told VC sir to first give hostel to us. If still any vacancy, PG girls will also get room," UG girl to @TheSouthfirst pic.twitter.com/yzXr4NCP7C
— Ajay Tomar (@ajaytomarasks) November 15, 2022
As per the college official, while the current capacity of the hostel is 200, it might be increased to 260 in the coming days.
On 11 November, the government came up with a compromise formula, splitting hostel allotments equally between PG and UG girl students, but the UG students did not accept it.
As soon as the news spread, the students started celebrating on the college premises as well as outside.
Slogans like “long live students’ unity” and “Jai Nizamians” were raised by the students. They also distributed sweets and set off firecrackers.
“We all are very happy today that the college agreed to our demands and started the admission process. Our struggle took some time, but brought us success,” George Thirupathi, a third-year BSc student and President of the Progressive Democratic Students Union, told South First.
He added that the students would conduct a success meet on 16 November on the college premises.
