Hyderabad: The University of Hyderabad witnessed all sorts of democratic violations under the tenure of Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prod. Appa Rao Podile, HCU-Ambedkar Students’ Association (ASA) said after the former was relieved from his position on Monday.
In a strongly-worded statement, ASA, an Ambedkarite students’ wing of the university , said that Appa Rao had reduced the university into his own mini-empire during his ‘autocratic and dictatorial’ tenure.
“Polide Apparao was merely acting as a spokesperson of the ruling BJP regime and even the VC position was attained by him through his caste-political lobbying,” ASA said.
ASA invoked its member and Dalit PhD scholar Rohit Vemula’s death and balmed Prof Appa Rao for being directly responsible for his ‘institutional murder’. The association said: “One can’t forget the atrocities committed by Appa Rao in his tenure as VC and in this regard, we would like to reiterate once again that our legal fight against Appa Rao, BJP and ABVP leaders would continue.”
They further said there won’t be even an inch of stepping back in the struggle for seeking ‘Justice for Rohith Vemula’.
The Ambedkarite group said that Appa Rao’s tenure was marked by anti-student policies, malpractice and corruption. They also blamed him for completely destroying spaces that were meant for discussing academic issues, by reducing Academic Council, Executive Council, and School Board meetings to spaces of glorification and exaltation.
Besides, ASA noted that several lakhs of rupees were spent on the interior decoration of VC’s lodge and other such personal expenses at a time when various schools and centres are facing serious financial difficulties. “University of Hyderabad, in spite of having abundant financial resources failed to make campus more inclusive,” they said.
Senior Professor in the school of computer and information sciences, Prof. Appa Rao Podile demitted the office of the Vice-Chancellor on Monday and handed over charge to Prof. Arun Agarwal, Pro Vice-Chancellor-1 and the next senior-most professor in the University.