Lifeline for girls: Privatisation of Hyd's KNPW discussed at Bharat Jodo Yatra

Hyderabad: During the interactions at the Congress party's Bharat Jodo Yatra in Mahabubnagar on Saturday, issues of privatisation of the Kamala Nehru Polytechnic for Women (KNPW) were discussed with Congress MP Rahu Gandhi and other party leaders.

Swathi Maniputra, an alumna of KNPW, explained very eloquently how her college was being privatised. She narrated how three Congress Prime Ministers were instrumental in building the college as Asia's first women's polytechnic which offered quality technical education to underprivileged girls. Further, she spoke about the High Court PIL which the students of KNPW had won and yet there was no respite from the government.

"It was good. He was patient and polite," said Swathi about Rahul Gandhi's response.

Background

The students and alumni of KNPW, supported by civil society organisations, have been struggling to resume discontinued courses in the college in aided mode. Social activist Shanta Sinha had filed a writ petition in the High Court requesting it to direct the government to extend financial, technical, and other facilities to the institution. In April 2022, the court asked the government to take appropriate decisions within 45 days.

Following the court's direction, on 12 October 2022, the state higher education department issued a GO permitting the discontinuation of seven aided courses in the college and resuming the same on a self-finance mode. The seven courses mentioned in the order were Diploma in Computer Engineering (DCE), Diploma in Electronics and Communication Engineering (DECE), Diploma in Commercial and Computer Practise (DCCP), Diploma Architectural Assistantship (DAA), Diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Technology (DHMCT), Diploma in Garment Technology (DGT), and Diploma in Pharmacy (D.Pharm).

Shaadi Mubarak

Meanwhile, Varsha Bhargavi of 'Where are the women' also spoke about the Telangana government's Shaadi Mubarak scheme. As per the scheme, financial assistance of Rs. 1,00,116 will be provided by the Telangana government for the marriage of girls from minority communities and poor financial backgrounds.

"I spoke about the Shaadi Mubarak scheme and Rahul Gandhi was curious. He asked for some data like how many beneficiaries, the amount disbursed so far, scheme overview, etc.," said Varsha.

Further, she linked it to how the scheme was encouraging dowry and hindering higher education for girls.

Varsha said out of the money disbursed through the Shaadi Mubarak scheme, the decision to use that amount should be given to the beneficiary girl themselves so she can choose either to go for higher education or get married or use it for self-empowerment.