'Vacate hostels or face police action': Hyd's Osmania Uni tells non-boarders

"This time we are very serious and will not hesitate to take the help of the law to ensure such people leave the campus," the OU Vice Chancellor said.

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The administration of Hyderabad's Osmania University has said that it has begun issuing notices to former students and non-boarders who were staying at the hostels on the premises of the campus illegally, adding that they would also seek the help of the local police if required. The administration also said that they hope to complete the process before January 31.

“We can accommodate 6500 students in hostels. Around 10,000 persons are staying in our hostels as of now and nearly 50% of them are staying illegally. Because of this, we are unable to provide about accommodation to about 600 research scholars. This is directly affecting their research work. We want those staying illegally to vacate immediately,” OU vice chancellor S Ramachandram was quoted as saying.

“Some students are over-staying in the hostels for almost a decade. It’s huge burden on the administration. Without allotting rooms and mess facility to newly admitted students, research work cannot commence,” the VC added.

Osmania University, which was a hotbed of the Telangana movement, is no stranger to this issue as it has repeatedly tried to evict non-boarders at the start of every academic year, only to find that many have returned by the end of the year. Last year, the administration allegedly resorted to shutting down power and water supply — affecting both the legitimate students and the non-boarders. The non-boarders however, generally remain insistent on refusing to give up their rooms, and even stage protests with the help of OU students.

“Though we have undertaken the process to evict non-boarders on several occasions earlier, this time we are very serious and will not hesitate to take the help of the law to ensure such people leave the campus. By month-end, we aim to get non-boarders evicted,” the VC told reporters earlier this week.