Reluctance from the State Government and security concerns, in all likelihood, may result in the inaugural of the Indian Science Congress (ISC) being shifted out of the Osmania University campus to a convention centre in the city.
A final decision will be taken on Friday after one more round of security situation review but university officials have lost hope of ensuring that the inaugural, to be attended by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stays on the campus, a senior official said on condition of anonymity. The ISC will be held at OU from January 3 to 7.
Though no student organisation has issued any threat of disruption, officials feel they may face embarrassing moments if slogans are raised against the Government in the presence of the Prime Minister. They recall the inaugural of the Centenary Celebrations of the OU where only the then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee spoke and the Governor and Chief Minister dropped their speeches with security officials warning that they may be heckled by some student groups.
Since the Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will be present at the ISC along with the Prime Minister, police officials say that they can’t take any chance and leave the Government embarrassed. Security arrangements for the Prime Minister will be more easier in a closed environment unlike the OU campus that is porous.
Osmania University students have been quite vocal against the Government over the last three years as the job notifications did not meet their expectations as promised during the Telangana agitation. Though OU was the hotbed of agitation neither the Chief Minister nor any Minister visited the OU officially in the last three years.
The recent suicide of a science student in the hostel room was the final nail on the university’s aspiration to host the Prime Minister and they feel it will be an insult to them if the inaugural is indeed shifted. Sensing further trouble the administration also decided to close the hostels till January 15, 2018.
In all the ISC meetings over the years the tradition has been that inaugural is held on the host university campus itself.
