Students Protest Over Poor Conditions in Ranga Reddy School
On Friday, students from the BC Welfare School in Batasingaram, Ranga Reddy district, held a sit-in protest on National Highway 65. The protest highlighted several issues beyond just poor infrastructure, which had already been a known problem.
The students were reportedly upset because the school authorities had stopped them from celebrating Diwali by banning the bursting of crackers. Principal Narayana Reddy explained that the protest was led by a group of students from classes 8 to 12 who were unhappy with recent strict rules on campus.
One of these rules was the ban on bursting crackers during Diwali. The principal argued that this rule was in place across all BC Residential Welfare Schools in the state for safety reasons, especially since their campus houses students from Class 6 to Class 12. He believed some students were protesting out of fear of punishment for breaking this rule.
However, Ranga Reddy District Collector, also named Narayana Reddy, did not fully agree with the principal. He said there was no official ban on bursting crackers, suggesting that the principal might have been overly cautious. The Collector added that proper safety measures could have been taken to allow the celebration and promised corrective steps to prevent such issues in the future.
The protest not only stopped traffic on the highway but also brought attention to other complaints the students had. They shared that their main concerns were the poor quality of food in the hostel, dirty classrooms, unhygienic washrooms, and a lack of security.
Many students said they had fallen ill from eating half-cooked food, and there was a severe lack of study materials and overcrowded classrooms. The school, which has 1,000 students, seemed unable to meet their basic needs. Despite raising these issues with teachers, the principal, and wardens, nothing had been done to fix the problems.
One protesting student said, “All our complaints have gone in vain, and nothing has changed.” They demanded better classrooms, more study materials, clean washrooms, proper food, and other essential facilities. With the academic year nearing its end, students were still struggling without the necessary study materials, and the school did not even have a security guard.
The students hope that their protest will lead to real changes in the school’s conditions.
