Hyderabad: Telangana BJP president N Ramchander Rao on Thursday condemned his house arrest at his Tarnaka residence, saying Congress govt was afraid of students protesting against GO 97 and accusing it of trying to prevent him from meeting them.Police arrived at Rao’s residence in the morning and stopped him from leaving for Ramanthapur Govt Polytechnic college, where students had invited him to discuss their concerns over GO 97. Rao said he was informed that a large police contingent had also been deployed at the college and agreed to remain at home to avoid a confrontation between police and protesting students.Rao said polytechnic students had earlier visited his hunger strike camp at BJP state office and invited him to Ramanthapur to hear their concerns. Students have been protesting against GO 97, which seeks greater convergence between polytechnic education, skill development and industry ecosystem. They have expressed concerns over possible changes to diploma courses and the Engineering Common Entrance Test (ECET).Rao alleged that govt was weakening the education system and claimed GO 97 could adversely affect polytechnic education. He alleged that valuable land belonging to govt polytechnic colleges could eventually come under pressure from real estate interests if institutions were weakened.He demanded withdrawal of GO 97 and criticised govt’s decision to constitute a committee to examine concerns raised by students and faculty.Rao also alleged that Congress govt had failed to clear fee reimbursement and scholarship dues and had neglected staffing requirements in schools and universities. He reiterated his demand for release of pending fee reimbursement dues.He also criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for raising student issues in NDA-ruled states while remaining silent on Telangana. Rao challenged Gandhi to visit state and question chief minister A Revanth Reddy over problems faced by students.
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