Two Deaths in Kurupam, eleven in year
The situation in government welfare hostels, Gurukul schools, and tribal residential schools has reached alarming proportions. In Kurupam alone, two girl students died within a week. Since July 2024, as many as 11 tribal students have died in agency districts due to illness in hostels and residential schools.
Parents and students attribute these deaths to contaminated water, poor-quality food, unhygienic conditions, lack of medical care, and administrative negligence.
Hostels without basic amenities
Most hostels now lack even basic facilities. RO water plants, installed during the YSRCP regime to provide safe drinking water, are lying defunct due to lack of maintenance. Despite repeated warning visits by the YSRCP student wing across the state, the coalition government has not acted.
The collapse has been sharp under the Chandrababu-led coalition. In just 16 months, conditions deteriorated to the point where, in Kurupam alone, 120 of 934 students fell sick with jaundice and other ailments within four days.
Welfare institutions are also crippled by administrative lapses. In Manyam district, ITDA projects are operating without regular Project Officers, leaving schools and hostels virtually leaderless.
YSRCP’s welfare vs Coalition neglect
The contrast with the YSRCP era is striking. Under YS Jagan’s leadership, hostels were upgraded with 11 categories of basic amenities—lights, fans, digital panels, safe drinking water through RO plants, toilets, furniture, nutritious food, and strict monitoring. The Amma Vodi scheme further encouraged poor parents to send their children to schools.
But under the coalition, RO plants are unrepaired, sanitation is ignored, food quality has collapsed, and students are left to fend for themselves against contaminated meals and diseases.
Frequent hostel tragedies since 2024
The past year has witnessed a series of shocking incidents across Andhra Pradesh:
- 15 July 2024, Tirupati: 139 Gurukul students fell ill from contaminated food in Naidupeta.
- 04 Aug 2024, Nandyal: Over 100 students suffered food poisoning at SDR School.
- 19 Aug 2024, Anakapalli: 38 children sick, 3 dead, from spoiled food at a private trust hostel.
- 21 Aug 2024, Chittoor: 300 students fell ill from food poisoning at Apollo College.
- 27 Aug 2024, Srikakulam: Rats bit 5 girls in Tamara Palli women’s hostel.
- 27 Aug 2024, Kakinada: 62 girls suffered food poisoning in Ambedkar Gurukul.
- 28–29 Aug 2024, Eluru: 342 IIIT Nuzvid students fell ill in two days, followed by 123 more.
- 30 Aug 2024, ASR District: 79 girls sick due to contaminated food in Jamiguda hostel.
- Sept–Dec 2024: Multiple districts reported clusters of 40–100 students sick at a time.
- Jan–Aug 2025: Over 15 hostel incidents reported, including deaths of students in Prakasam and Nellore due to poor healthcare.
Lives of Tribal and Dalit students at risk
These repeated tragedies expose how the coalition government has abandoned welfare hostels and residential schools. What was once a system strengthened under YSRCP has been left in ruins, putting the lives of thousands of poor, tribal, and Dalit children at constant risk.
YSRCP leaders said this crisis is not just an administrative lapse but a criminal failure of governance, demanding urgent corrective measures before more young lives are lost.
