Relocation of Ambedkar Open University to A.P. brings cheer to stakeholders

The Hindu

24-05-2025

The decision to relocate the headquarters of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU) to Andhra Pradesh after the bifurcation, has brought to the stakeholders.
The university employees working at the study centres located in Andhra Pradesh, and not received salaries since January this year, heaved a sigh of relief as their financial ordeal will end soon. The BRAOU management in Telangana had refused to certify their services since January citing lapse of the 10-year period during which Hyderabad served as the common capital of the two Telugu-speaking States as per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. It had also refused to admit students from Andhra Pradesh from 2024-25 academic year stating that it was winding up its A.P. operations and leaving thousands of aspiring students in the lurch.
The BRAOU is listed in the Class X schedule of the A.P. State Reorganisation Act and the bifurcation process of the university (distribution of assets and liabilities between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the stipulated 52:48 ratio respectively), has not yet been done.
Established in August 26, 1982, as Andhra Pradesh Open University through the APOU Act, it was the country's first open university and was renamed as Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University on October 26, 1991. While the government is keen on ensuring that admissions to the open university are rolled out in the academic year 2025-26, the details of how the officials plan to go about the admission process due in June, is yet to be known.
The official announcement of the proposed new headquarters of the university at Eluru was made on May 23 through GO No. 24. The university is seen as the need of the hour by students who are unable to pursue higher education through conventional institutions and intend to opt for distance education mode.
However, its proposed location at Eluru has not gone down well with many stakeholders, who feel that the university being a State-level facility, it should be established at Vijayawada.
One such demand has come from the leaders of Kula Vyatireka Porata Samithi (KVPS). The samithi's State general secretary A. Malyadri has urged the government to locate the new facility on the premises of Ambedkar Smriti Vanam in Vijayawada, as the place is centrally located and accessible to students from across the State. Besides the fact that the place is well connected, he said the partially completed buildings at Ambedkar Smriti Vanam could be utilised for the purpose.
Pointing out that the Officer on Special Duty, Velaga Joshi, who has been overseeing the university's activities from Vijayawada, should be allowed to continue working from here. Mr. Malyadri said he would write separate letters to the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister, Minister for HRD and Minister for Social Welfare to consider his plea and do the needful.