Hyderabad, February 01: The helpline at the chief minister’s office kept ringing throughout yesterday. But no one picked up the phone.
As the day wore on, desperate families of students of the sham Tri-Valley University in the US became more and more restive.
They had reason to be upset after news reports that some of the students who had joined the California institute for higher studies had been forced to wear a GPS tracking device to monitor their movements.
“My sister is one of those living with an RFID tag on her ankle for the past week. I don’t put a leash even on my dog while my sister has to live with it,” said Karthikeyan, 28.
The action followed a raid on the university campus last week. US authorities have since shut down the university after finding it involved in a massive immigration fraud.
The university had 1,555 students. Some 95 per cent were said to be Indians, 950 of them from Andhra Pradesh alone.
It wasn’t, however, only parents of the duped students who kept calling the helpline. Among those who dialled (040)23220603 were also relatives of people trapped in the political turmoil in Egypt. Some 2,000 labourers, including railway workers, are stranded in the Arabian country.
According to South Central Railway authorities, all efforts were being made to bring back the rail employees who were laying a track and setting up a signal network.
The state home ministry has also sent requests to the Centre to take note of the plight of the employees. Some family members of the workers and other employees have approached state home minister Sabita Indra Reddy and also petitioned the chief minister’s office for their safe return.
Sources said some Tri-Valley officials had visited Hyderabad in 2008. At an interaction in a hotel, they showed how “easy” and fast access to higher studies in the US was.
Today, some 350 students who were to join in May this year are a clueless bunch. They had even paid part of their fees.
“My sister’s visa is legal and she paid all the fees legally,” Karthikeyan said. “This is not a university that surfaced overnight but is at least 10 years old.”
Academic K.R. Chowdhary said it was the responsibility of the US government to ensure the safety and education of the students who have already spent huge amounts in pursuit of their American dream.
“This is the price Indians have to pay for being enthusiastic about studying in the US,” said Bandaru Gopala Rao whose son Sudhakar had joined Tri-Valley.
Since Tri-Valley was not an accredited university, its credits cannot be used for transfer to other universities. This means all students have to seek admission afresh. “We have lost one academic year and also money,” said Nirmala Goud, a 22-year-old who had got admission in the university and spent almost Rs 56,000 in fees and other payments.
But why did the helpline keep ringing at the secretariat yesterday?
A senior official in the chief minister’s office said the helpline had collapsed under the flood of enquiries, which were more about the situation in Egypt. “We have addressed the problem and added more lines to the designated helpline today,” he added.
As for Tri-Valley students, they are now left with two options: either pay a bond of $15,000 to get rid of the tracking tags and return to India or get immigration papers settled and opt for another varsity.
-Agencies