GO 97 meets students. Clarification blinks.
Polytechnic students hit the streets over GO 97; the Congress-run Telangana government says lateral entry, fees and scholarships remain unchanged — but has yet to publish the order that would settle it.
Students are seeking the full text of GO 97 and clarity on existing academic arrangements.
Polytechnic students staged protests on Thursday at Abdullapurmet near Ramoji Film City, Yousufguda and outside Masab Tank Polytechnic College, demanding withdrawal of GO 97 issued on July 3. A report from the ground described this as day two of the agitation. According to that report, BRS leaders joined or voiced support at Masab Tank.
The dispute: GO 97 renames the Labour, Employment, Training and Factories Department as SHAKTI and, per the report, brings polytechnic colleges under the Young India Skill University framework. On the same day, the state’s fact-check handle pushed a clarification: existing arrangements on lateral entry, fees and scholarships have not changed, and student unions are being engaged.
That leaves one simple ask the Congress government could meet before the next slogan: publish the full text of GO 97 and spell out what, if anything, changes for current diploma students — ECET lateral entry, fee reimbursement, scholarships, affiliation, exam authority and timelines. A 2024 state economic brief did signal a move to a unified skilling ecosystem across ITIs, ATCs and polytechnics, but a policy direction is not a legal order.
BRS leaders have lined up behind the students. State president Gellu Srinivas Yadav called the decision a push toward a model that doesn’t deliver real jobs and alleged a tilt to private interests. Vice-president Thunga Balu warned of future fee burdens under a PPP-style skill university. Working president K. T. Rama Rao posted his “complete solidarity” and called the Revanth government’s decision erroneous and unsettling for thousands of polytechnic students. Those are political statements; the government’s posted line is that nothing core has changed — yet.
What matters to Telangana families is not a rebrand but the pathway: keep the diploma-to-engineering ladder intact and the support that makes it usable. Until the Congress government in Telangana puts GO 97 on the table and answers in full, expect the questions to be louder than the new department name.