Protests continued to rock the Dr YSR National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management’s (NITHM) campus in Hyderabad's Gachibowli area on Monday as angry students shot off a letter to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
In the letter, students demanded that the institute's Director, Chinnam Reddy, must be sacked.
The students also said that failing this, they would step up the protest with an indefinite hunger strike and demand Transfer Certificates (TCs) and refund of the fees that was paid.
The students have been demanding that the Director must be sacked, alleging that he was 'bending rules according to his own will' and was constantly changing the examination pattern, which was causing the students great stress. They also alleged that the head of the institute was functioning with impunity, citing political influence.
The ABVP joined the protesting students on Monday on the fifth continuous day of dissent on campus and staged a silent protest at the university's Administrative block.
After around two hours of shouting slogans and asking the director to come out and meet them, the irked students took the protest outside his cabin, after which he decided to speak to the students.
"When confronted with questions along with proofs, he ran into his cabin without an answer. Student leaders forced themselves into his cabin and asked him to answer us. After a good 20 to 30 minutes of talking, he apologised," one student told TNM.
The students said that later in the evening, B Manohar, Managing Director, Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC) spoke to them and addressed the issue.
The students were asked if they had a single motto, and they demanded that the Director of the institute must be removed.
"We had enough of this nonsense! Our agenda is very clear. We all know how egoistic the director is and we want him to be removed. We need the CM to please think of the lives of students," the students said in a joint statement.
Last week, students alleged that the Director of the institute, Chinnam Reddy, was ‘bending rules according to his will’, which was putting them under great stress.
NITHM is affiliated to the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad.
“The JNTU exam pattern is not being followed. The academic calendar issued by JNTU and NITHM is not being followed. The internal examination pattern has been changed thrice as per the director’s choice and was announced only a week before the actual examination,” students said in an earlier message to the media.