Carrying empty plates and tumblers, students residing in government welfare hostels, led by All India Students Federation, staged a ‘Aakali kekalu’ protest at the Collectorate here on Friday demanding that the government take steps to address their problems immediately. The students were demanding, among other things, increase in mess allowance to Rs 1,500, shifting of welfare hostels from rented premises to own buildings, taking up repairs and renovations of dilapidated hostel buildings. The students were suffering due to the faulty policies of the government, AISF state vice president M. Srinivas said.
There is a severe water scarcity in the welfare hostels, AISF district secretary K Radhakrishna said and demanded that the Government take steps to address it on a war footing. Further, the children were getting poor quality food in the mid-day meals in schools, he said and demanded that the authorities hike the allowance to ensure that the children got quality food in mid-day meals.
The students in tribal welfare hostels were not getting tuition fees and other charges on time, he added. The police physically removed AISF leaders, including joint secretary K Ramana and S Ramakrishna, and students from the protest site.