Hyderabad: Students thank CM for increased hostel mess charges

Hyderabad: College hostel students in Hyderabad held rallies and celebrations on Sunday to express their gratitude to Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for increasing the mess charges for students in BC, SC, ST, minority, and gurukula hostels.

Hundreds of students from various BC and SC college hostels gathered at BC Bhavan in a rally to mark the occasion.

Speaking at the event, National BC Welfare Association President R Krishnaiah highlighted that student associations have held dharnas and rallies 390 times over the past four years to advocate for this increase.

“We are pleased that the current government has responded to our efforts by raising the mess charges for SC, ST, BC hostel, and gurukula students. We thank Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka for this much-needed increase,” he said. The hike will benefit approximately 765,000 students in gurukulas and hostels across the state.

According to the new rates, mess charges for college hostel students have increased from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,100; for students from 3rd to 7th grade in gurukulas, from Rs 900 to ₹1,330; and for students from 8th to 10th grade, from Rs 1,100 to Rs 1,540. Students also welcomed improvements in hostel facilities and expressed their desire for nutritious meal plans as part of the changes.

Krishnaiah also appealed to the government to address the lack of dedicated hostel buildings. Currently, 295 BC college hostels and 321 BC gurukula schools in the state do not have their own buildings, and officials are reportedly depending on private facilities, sometimes involving questionable allocations.

“While thousands of crores are spent on flyovers and infrastructure in areas like Madhapur, Kondapur, Gachibowli, and Kokapet for the elite, our future IAS, IPS officers, doctors, engineers, and scientists are crammed into overcrowded hostel rooms like cattle,” Krishnaiah said.

He urged the government to prioritize the construction of permanent hostel facilities, emphasizing that students’ education and health are at risk without adequate accommodation.

The event was attended by Telangana State BC Student President Vemula Ramakrishna, along with student leaders K. Siva, R. Kavita, Balaram, Mallesh, CH Srinivas, Naveen Kumar, Vinay Goud, Suresh, Shiva Raj, and others.