KTR@IIIT Basar: Minister opens new mess; avoids talk of food poisoning incidents

Hyderabad: Telangana minister for industries K.T Rama Rao on Monday visited the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT), popularly known as IIIT Basar, in Nirmal and inaugurated the new mess. He was joined by state education minister Sabita Indra Reddy, Excise minister V. Srinivas Goud, and environment minister Allola Indrakaran Reddy.

KTR promised to provide laptops to all students by November and said, in six to eight months, a mini-sports stadium worth Rs. 3 crores will be set up for outdoor sports. Fifty additional classrooms with furniture and a state-of-the-art digital lab with 1,000 computers will also be set up, he said.

The minister encouraged the students to be innovators. In this regard, he said a mini T-Hub will be set up on the campus to promote innovations. Further, he directed the education minister to introduce new-age, futuristic courses in the university.

'Students should take up maintenance'

KTR assured that he would arrange a new mess, bathrooms, and classrooms for the students but said they would have to take up the maintenance of the campus premises. "I went to use your new mess, I found no locks on the doors, no cleanliness. I told the principal, if this is the case with a new mess, I can imagine how bad the old mess is. Maintenance is the biggest challenge, and it is not just the university's responsibility. Students should take part in keeping the campus clean," he said.

He directed the Students Governing Council (SGC) of the university to ensure that the campus and its premises are kept clean.

Interestingly, the minister did not speak a word about the food poisoning incidents at IIIT Basar. However, he appreciated the students for the peaceful protests that they had conducted. "I like the way the students protested to solve the problems in the institution. You fought a silent fight like Gandhi," he said.

IIIT Basar has been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons in the last 3-4 months with multiple cases of food poisoning reported among students after consuming the mess food