The death of a hostel student led to the hostel inmates staging a dharna at the ST Hostel at Kapparada, behind the Government Polytechnic on Thursday night.
B. Rajkumar (20) of Kuridi village of Dumbriguda mandal, who was studying II BA at Dr. V.S. Krishna Government College, had reportedly been suffering from malaria for the past one week. The students alleged that the warden was not responding to their demands for provision of safe drinking water and improvement of sanitation around the hostel, which had led to the proliferation of mosquitoes.
They said Rajkumar was shifted to the King George Hospital (KGH) on Thursday afternoon. He was declared brought dead and the body was shifted from the KGH to his native place.
The hostel students, led by Students Federation of India (SFI), staged a dharna at the hostel on Thursday night demanding action against the officials responsible for the death of the student.
Refusing to go into the hostel, they raised slogans denouncing the hostel authorities and the government for its apathy towards their problems.
Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Greater Visakha City Committee secretary B. Ganga Rao said the indifference of the State government had led to the death of the tribal student. He alleged that 400 students were being accommodated in six rooms and the unhygienic conditions around the hostel were leading to the outbreak of epidemics. He demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident and payment of Rs.25 lakh as compensation to the victim’s family.
In a separate release, SFI Greater Visakha City Committee president K. Prithviraj deplored the poor quality of food being served at the hostel. He demanded that the Chief Minister and the Education Minister should own responsibility for the death of the student. He sought payment of compensation, a job to one of the family members and improvement of amenities at the hostel.
He said a “Chalo Collectorate’ would be organised by the hostel students on Friday morning.
