Thousands of polytechnic students across Telangana are protesting a government order that merges state-run polytechnic colleges with the Young India Skill University. The dispute involves GO 97, issued in July, which renamed the state’s labour and technical training department and folded polytechnic administration into the restructuring. Students argue this strips polytechnics of their independent identity and threatens their access to the ECET lateral-entry examination for engineering programs.
Demonstrations spread from Hyderabad and Secunderabad to towns like Mahabubabad and Utnoor, featuring sit-ins and a march where students clashed with police. The opposition party BRS supports the agitation, accusing the ruling Congress government of dismantling technical education. Protesters fear administrators want to fold valuable polytechnic land and infrastructure into the Skill University, which they say has drawn poor enrollment since being established two years ago.
The state government has declined to withdraw the order, proposing instead a coordination task force to hear grievances, while officials maintain the restructuring modernizes vocational training. The protests mark a major flashpoint as the government approaches its 1,000th day in office. Students vow to continue demonstrating until the order is rescinded and the future of the ECET pathway is clarified.