The University of Hyderabad has asked students staying on campus to vacate the premises in the midst of COVID-19 crisis, leading to the student community strongly opposing the move. On Monday, the university administration sent out an email to the students informing them that the mess facilities will be closed by June 9. The administration advised the students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to vacate hostels by June 5 and the rest of the students by June 9. Currently, there are 300 students remaining in the University of Hyderabad campus as most of the 5,000-odd students have already left.
“The university administration has assessed the current situation in Telangana. It is noticed that some of the hostel staff travel to and fro from areas designated as red zones. Among these red zones, several of them have been designated as containment zones, which are dynamically changing,” read a part of the email.
Prior to the email, the chief warden’s office issued a notice on May 30, advising all the boarders to leave hostels and return to their homes.
The student union protested against the decision of the university, calling it “autocratic” and “inhuman” and demanded its rollback.
The students say that forcing them to leave the campus puts them at greater risk of contracting the coronavirus besides exposing them to unsafe travel.
“I live in Sundernagar, which is a rural area and is close to Varanasi. My village pradhan is not allowing people to come from outside. Only one school in my village has been turned into quarantine centre and it is full with almost 50 people. It is very dangerous for me to travel by train and stay with so many people,” said Ayushya Singh, an MPhil student.
Another student, Priyali Dingra from Delhi, said, “The university is treating us the way the government is treating the migrants. Delhi has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases [in the country]. I am from south Delhi, which has a lot of containment zones. More than the area, travelling won’t be safe.”
The student of MA in communications felt that the university was shunning its responsibility, noting all they asked for was basic facilities to remain in the campus.
The students said that they were ready to compromise on mess facilities and do not have any demands apart from being allowed to stay.
The university administration is meeting on Tuesday evening with student union representatives to review and take a call on their decision. If there is no rollback or even if the deadline is extended, students have decided to protest.