Hyderabad, December 11: On the second anniversary of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s statement on Telangana on December 9, Osmania University presents a contrasting picture. The highly charged atmosphere prevailing before the announcement on December 9, 2009, and after December 23 when the decision was put on hold has subsided.
After witnessing two years of turmoil and disrupted academic activity, the university is back on track. The library is teeming with students seriously engaged in preparation for competitive exams while the coaching centres on and around the campus are busy fine-tuning the students’ skills for the job gateway opened by the government.
Students, who were very active and volatile keeping the Telangana agitation alive, are now seriously concentrating on their studies, to be precise getting themselves ready for the government vacancies notified recently.
Emotions subside
“The emotions have subsided and the reality has set in,” agreed a key member of OU-JAC. He says though students are emotive on the issue they feel cheated by the political parties. “They have used us. We are left with police cases to face and our future looks uncertain,” he said.
The series of job notifications, including Group-I, Sub-Inspectors, VROs, VAOs, junior and degree lecturer posts and the proposed Group-II notifications have infused a sense of “opportunity to grab” among students.
A research scholar, Rudra Reddy, who has appeared for JL exam recently, says the students have realised that the opportunity should not be wasted. “Disillusionment among students on political leaders and student leadership is very strong driving them away from agitation. The government is clearly cashing on this through job notifications,” says a TRSV leader, who doesn’t want to be identified.
Cases registered during the agitation are haunting many students and they fear these would hamper the job chances.
“We hope the petty cases will go,” said a student with 18 cases registered against him.