Hyderabad: The 105th Indian Science Congress, scheduled to be held at the Osmania University here from January 3 to 7, has been postponed due to security issues.

The Indian Science Congress Association said on its website that the university's vice chancellor, S Ramachandram, expressed inability to host the event due to "certain issues" on the campus. The vice chancellor said though the varsity was fully prepared, the decision to postpone the event had to be taken due to the matters beyond their control.

"Reason is, security... Keeping in view recent incidents on the campus, it was postponed... We were fully prepared (to host the event)," he said.

A 20-year-old student allegedly committed suicide on the campus on December 3. The body of the first-year student of MSc Physics was found hanging in the washroom of one of the hostels. The incident led to protests on the campus. The university said it hopes the event would be held in near future, after further discussions with the Indian Science Congress Association.

Several committees had worked for the past three months to ensure a smooth conduct during the event, it said in a release.

"In fact, the university changed the examination schedule for this purpose. At one point in time, the university was flexible and was willing to have the inaugural event outside the campus and the remaining sessions on the campus even if it meant incurring more expenditure and inconvenience," it said. The Indian Science Congress Association has "indefinitely postponed" the event at the university, the release added.

"The vice chancellor of the Osmania University has informed that they are not in a position to host the 105th Indian Science Congress scheduled from January 3-7, 2018 due to certain issues in the campus," the association said.

The Indian Science Congress is usually held in the first week of January every year. The last Science Congress was held at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh in January 2017.

PTI