Congress Will Not Permit Private Universities

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the Congress, if voted to power in the upcoming Assembly elections, would not allow private universities in the state.

He was speaking on the occasion of hundreds of TRSV activists from Palamuru, Kakatiya and JNTU universities under the leadership of JAC leader Vignesh Naik joining the Congress at a function at Indira Bhavan in the Gandhi Bhavan premises on Tuesday.

Reddy alleged that the TRS regime had completely ruined the education system of Telangana by starving all state universities of funds and staff during the last four-and-a-half years. He said that the required funds were not released to Osmania, Kakatiya, Palamuru, Telangana and other universities. Also, no efforts were made to fill the vacancies in state universities, and none of the problems being faced by the existing staff had been resolved. Caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had allowed the conditions in all universities to deteriorate, which consequently had a negative impact on the quality of education.

All this was done to facilitate the establishment of private universities, Reddy claimed. He alleged that the KCR government had mortgaged the interests of lakhs of poor students by allowing private universities. Students were also harassed due to the fee reimbursement dues not being released. Also, neither were the vacancies in government departments filled nor were new job opportunities created, he claimed, leading to graduating students staying unemployed.

The then Congress president Sonia Gandhi had granted Telangana due the struggles and sacrifices of the students, but the students and youth still remained deprived, and only the KCR family enjoyed all the benefits, he alleged. If KCR retained power he would completely dismantle the entire education system, Reddy claimed, and vowed that the next Congress government would not allow private universities, and would instead strengthen the state universities by giving them funds and required staff.

The TPCC chief also said that when the Congress promised to give Rs 3,000 as unemployment allowance to jobless youth, KCR copied it and made the same promise by adding just Rs 16 to it. "Are you trying to make fun of jobless youth?" he asked KCR. He also asked why TRS government did not give any allowance to the jobless youth during the last four years. "KCR himself admitted that over 12 lakh jobless youth were identified in the Intensive Household Survey. When he had those figures since August 2014, why did he do nothing to help those youth for over four years?" Reddy asked.

Reddy said that the KCR family lived a lavish lifestyle in a Rs 300-crore bungalow (Pragathi Bhavan) spread across 1 lakh sft. KCR had money to buy luxury cars worth Rs 100 crores and fly in chartered jets. But he had no money to fund state universities, clear the fee reimbursement dues or create jobs.

Reddy also slammed the TRS government for its failure to start the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) which was sanctioned by the previous Congress-led UPA government to create over 50 lakh direct and indirect jobs.

The TPCC chief also said that neither KCR nor KTR had made any contribution to the statehood movement. "I have already exposed with authentic documents that KCR's fast was fake. Similarly, KTR was nowhere in the periphery of the Telangana movement. He did his education from Andhra and later worked in the USA. Having sensed that the Congress would soon give Telangana, he returned to Hyderabad and is now enjoying power," Reddy said dismissing KTR's claims that the TRS fought for and realized Telangana. "A gang of four is today cheating four crore people to enjoy the benefits of the new state," he said.

The TPCC chief appealed the students and the youth to campaign for the Congress in the next elections. Stating that only 45 days were left for the elections, he asked each activist to ensure that he got 100 votes - those of his family members, friends and neighbours - for the Congress.

He also cautioned them that the TRS might use money and muscle power or even misuse the police to indulge in irregularities during elections. "You have to be prepared for anything and give a tough fight to save democracy in Telangana. It is your enthusiasm and zeal that will bring the Congress back to power in the next elections," he told the students and the youth.