No power supply in historic Old City library

Hyderabad: Ahead of examinations, aspirants to recruitment of government jobs are unable to prepare as they are facing difficulties due to lack of basic facilities in libraries. The aspirants in the Old City who have the only library Grandhalaya Samstha in Lal Darwaza, which lacks electricity. Visitors complained that there is no electricity for the last four days.

According to them, the library lacks basic facilities; it is a 69-year-old historic structure but lacks maintenance. However, they visit the library and prepare for the exams.

"Apart from basic amenities, for the last 4-5 days there has been no electricity in the library. The aspirants seem to be frustrated due lack of fans and lights. The concerned authorities must take steps to ensure power supply," said Mahesh, an aspirant.

The library officials lack information on reasons for lack of power and are daily contacting the Transco officials. They are yet to visit and resume power supply to the library," said Mohammed Yousuf, an aspirant who visits the library to prepare for exams.

When contacted, an official said that they have already filed a complaint regarding the issue. Daily they are contacting the circle assistant engineer's office. "A complaint has been filed; still no action has been taken; no officer has visited to detect the cause."

Being run by the Hyderabad City Grandhalaya Samstha, the library at Shalibanda is one of the oldest in the city. It was inaugurated in 1953. The library has more than 60,000 books. They include reference books, on law, medicine, history, dictionaries in all languages, besides periodicals, like Employment News, children books, magazines and dailies in Urdu, English, Hindi, Telugu, Marathi (in all 17). According to the librarian, over 4,000 members are availing the services of the library with a nominal fee of Rs 100 (for lifetime). About 200 persons visit daily for reading newspapers. Some engineering, medical and law students visit for browsing reference books. "As the library has a huge number of books, several aspirants as well as students come here and prepare for examinations," he said.