The boarders of the government-controlled social welfare hostels have resorted to a novel protest at Tirupati on Tuesday to express their disappointment over the appalling conditions prevailing in the hostels despite their repeated agitations.

Hostellers who are on a agitation under the banner of the Students Federation of India (SFI) took bath in public at the NTR Circle in Chittoor and regretted that though the SFI conducted a ‘cycle jatha' in the district and submitted a representation to the District Collector about the glaring shortcomings in the welfare hostels, such as lack of adequate toilets, bathrooms, bad upkeep of the rooms and surroundings, no action had been taken.

The SFI demonstrators, led by the district president, N. Nageswara Rao, also highlighted the hardship being caused to the boarders in the wake of non-release of scholarships, mess and cosmetic charges among others by the Andhra Pradesh government for the last so many months.