By Yunus Lasania |
Students of Osmania University Joint Action Committee (OUJAC) repair the damaged Rail Nilayam – Mettuguda stretch of road in Hyderabad on Saturday |
Think Osmania University (OU), and protest is the very first thing that comes to one’s mind. But Saturday morning witnessed a very different side of students belonging to the Osmania University Joint Action Committee (OUJAC), who started re-carpeting a damaged stretch at the end of Rail Nilayam road. They did this as a mark of protest against government’s apathy towards civic issues.
The novel protest was spokesperson M Krishank’s idea, who along with other students, pooled in Rs 3,500 to repair the road. “The stretch near the signal has been left unrepaired from over five years. They spent so much money on COP-11 laying roads everywhere in the city. But I guess since the delegates didn’t pass this way, and no ministers use this stretch, it has remained neglected,” said Krishank.
The students’ efforts left passersby curious, with some of them even stopping to talk to them. The task was also by no means amateurish, as a few members of the group handled traffic, while more than ten of them took turns to do the work. A few others took turns holding a banner apologising commuters for the inconvenience. And for once, the law and order police, which came to the spot, also appreciated the OUJAC members for their work. The only thing the posse had to do was to stand and watch.
Although the ‘road’ they laid was nothing but a rudimentary mixture of red sand and stones, Krishank explained that their work was more about getting the message through to the government. OUJAC students, who began working at 11.30 am, toiled under the harsh sun for more than an hour and a half before they finished it. He and the others bought 25 bags of sand, and the equivalent stones required and set off to complete their task.
“Usually in protests, people get hurt, and things get damaged. So, this time we all decided to do something constructive instead, and make sure that we help the common man,” mentioned Nikhil Kaperi, a member of the group. Another member, Sai Prasad, discerned that it is time people know that the word Osmania stops being synonymous for violence.
Courtesy: Indian Express