GO 97: clarity last in class
Polytechnic students and staff across Telangana want one simple thing on GO 97 — the order itself, and what it does, in writing. The Congress government’s answers so far are assurances without the document. Protests have spread; the minister says it’s “administrative”. Pick one, and publish it.
Students and staff are seeking the text of G.O.Ms.No.97 and written clarity on its implications.
Students at government polytechnics in Mancherial, Vemulawada, Kothagudem, Hyderabad, Nizamabad and Nalgonda protested between August 18 and 22 against GO 97, demanding that their colleges remain under the State Board of Technical Education and Training. Left student unions led actions in Kothagudem; BRSV leaders joined demonstrations in Mancherial and Vemulawada. KTR backed the agitation, telling the government: “Do not play with the lives of polytechnic students.”
What the order actually does is still not on the public record. Coverage describes it two ways: protesters say it moves polytechnics into the SHAKTI/Young India Skills University orbit; the SHAKTI and Mines Minister G. Vivek Venkataswamy says it’s “purely an administrative restructuring exercise” under the Commissionerate of Employment and Training, with three‑year AICTE‑recognised diplomas, TG ECET lateral entry, and academic control intact. The document that would settle this — G.O.Ms.No.97 — wasn’t located in public listings.
Faculty aren’t buying verbal comfort. The Telangana Polytechnic JAC announced non‑cooperation with additional duties from August 22, saying there is no written “modalities or roadmap”, and asked to keep polytechnics under SBTET and the Education Department. Students’ core anxiety is their TG ECET pathway; the minister says it will continue. Without GO 97 or a formal note that locks those guarantees, that is politics, not policy.
In Nalgonda on August 21, students reportedly halted Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy’s convoy near the Clock Tower; a police version wasn’t immediately found in the reports reviewed. The BJP is busy somewhere else; the TDP has thoughts about every institution except the ones it runs. Telangana’s kids are asking for a PDF.