TS police stop Chandana Khan, denies entry into NITHM

• Special Chief Secretary Chandana Khan prevented from addressing meeting of NITHM as Chairman
• TS Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma appoints Principal Secretary of Tourism as chairman of the Institute’s Governing Council
• AP Minister Narayana condemns the act

Hyderabad: Controversy over the ownership of the DR YSR National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management erupted on Monday. The issue came to the fore as AP Special Chief Secretary for Tourism Chandana Khan was denied entry into the Institute.

The police prevented the senior IAS officer though she was to address a meeting in the Institute. The Telangana State claimed that the Institute belonged to it.

The police action came as a rude shock for the officer who registered her protest by staging a sit-in at the gate of the Institute. She told The Hans India that the police had stopped her without citing any reason. All that they told her was that they had received orders from the higher officials not to allow her inside the premises.

She said this was “a great insult heaped on a senior IAS officer like me.” “The Institute,” Chandana Khan said, “is a national institute and both AP and Telangana governments have equal stakes.” Important strategies on travel, tourism and hospitality were drawn up in the building on a regular basis and the police had no business to obstruct her from entering the premises. The institute also came under the Schedule X of the AP Reorganisation Act, she said.

“Many students from outside the State are enrolled in the Institute and the action by the Telangana State government will send wrong signals all over country,” she said. Asked what action she was planning to take, Chandana Khan said she was awaiting the instructions from the government.

When contacted, Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development P Narayana said the Telangana government's move was intended to put obstacles in the day-to-day functioning of the AP government. He said the government would take up the issue with the Governor and seek an immediate end to such intimidating tactics by the TS Government.

However, Chief Secretary Telangana State Rajiv Sharma justified the action by the police in preventing Chandana khan from entering the premises of the Institute. He said the Institute belonged to the Telangana State government.

He said as per the AP Reorganisation Act 2014 and section 75, the institute was listed at serial number100 in the 10th schedule. The Institute was situated in Hyderabad and in accordance with the provisions of the Act, the institute which was physically located in Telangana would be managed by Telangana State. Its services would also be offered to the successor State i.e. Andhra Pradesh on mutually agreed terms.

Similarly, the Pragada Kotayya Memorial Indian Institute of Textile Technology in Nellore belonged to the State of Andhra Pradesh. By the same logic and provision of law the National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management (NITHM) belonged to Telangana State, he said.

He further said, the government had issued GO Ms No.3 on August 6, appointing Principal Secretary for Tourism and Culture of Telangana State as Chairman of the Institute and in his capacity he had also conducted a Governing Council meeting on the same day. Against this backdrop, Chandana Khan cannot continue to be the head of this institute, he added.