Hyderabad:Students of Nizam College in Hyderabad are boycotting classes to protest the closure of hostel messes. The students are demanding immediate intervention from Osmania University and the state government or they will go on an indefinite hunger strike.The college issued a notice on June 13 urging all undergraduate and postgraduate hostel boarders to contribute ₹3,000 each and clear pending dues to keep the hostel operations running. The letter, signed by Principal S.V. Rathod, cited a severe financial crisis. It said regular vendors had stopped supplying vegetables and groceries due to months-long unpaid bills.“The mess was abruptly shut two days ago. We were told there’s no money to run it,” said a hostel boarder in Tarnaka where a few Nizam College students are housed. “We haven’t had proper meals in two days. How can students survive like this?”According to college officials, the mess operations collapsed due to the delay in release of fee reimbursement and scholarship funds by the state government. With vendors halting supplies and hostel funds drying up, the administration said it had no choice but to shut down mess services temporarily.“How can a college that played a key role in the Telangana statehood movement end up in a state where students have to go hungry?” said another student. “If there’s no money, why hasn’t Osmania University stepped in?”Students said their attempts to meet the principal in a formal setting were denied. “We were told very clearly that unless students themselves pay, the mess won’t reopen,” Deepak, one of the protestors, said.The students warned they would launch an indefinite hunger strike. “We will also call for a larger protest with student groups, civil organisations and political parties and march to the Secretariat,” said one of the student leaders Raju V.
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