AU students protest hostel, road conditions; VC promises phased repairs

Students of Andhra University, led by the Students Federation of India, staged a protest on Wednesday over long-standing infrastructure deficiencies in hostels and on campus roads. A delegation later met Vice-Chancellor G.P. Raja Sekhar at the administrative building, where he set out a phased repair and modernisation plan.

Tarun, the SFI vice-president at the university, said recent heavy rain had caused water seepage and ceiling plaster to fall in 18 to 20 rooms on the second floor of the Satavahana Hostel, which accommodates Arts College students. He said residents were unable to sleep peacefully, uncertain when more plaster might come down. He also questioned the university's collection of a hostel development fee of ₹5,500 a year, alleging that roughly ₹3,200 of it was diverted to pay daily-wage workers — an expense he argued the university should bear. The fund, he said, had produced no visible development.

G. Ajay, SFI district secretary for Visakhapatnam, alleged that washrooms in several hostels and departments, including the Chemistry department, remained unusable despite repeated representations to the Registrar. He added that inadequate street lighting on several campus roads posed a safety risk, especially for women students walking between hostels and the library at night.

Pragathi, a quantum engineering student, said the Maharani Peta, Nagarjuna and Vidya Tarangini hostels for women faced similar hygiene and food quality problems, with insufficient and unhygienic washrooms and food often served stale.

Responding to the grievances, Mr. Raja Sekhar said hostels, mess halls and toilets were being modernised in a phased manner. Students affected at Satavahana Hostel had already been shifted to lower floors, with repairs scheduled to begin during the Dasara vacation. Campus electrification work was under way to address lighting concerns, he said, while internal road repairs — delayed partly by a shortage of raw material and the need for repeat tendering in some cases — would start this week.

Citing approvals granted at a governing council meeting on Tuesday, the Vice-Chancellor said the university would build separate hostels for men and women, with capacities of 1,100 and 900 respectively, along with a mega mess.