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Fund crunch hits Telangana universities
Salaries for teachers in various universities of Telangana are getting delayed every month. While some universities are managing to pay salaries from their internal resources, in the case of Osmania University it is worse.
Hyderabad: Salaries for teachers in various universities of Telangana are getting delayed every month. While some universities are managing to pay salaries from their internal resources, in the case of Osmania University it is worse.
According to B Satyanarayana, president, Osmania University Teachers’ Association, the university has exhausted all resources. “Teachers who retired in January are still waiting for their final settlement. The salaries were supposed to be credited on August 1 but till date there is no indication.”
Even in the case of smaller universities, teachers are a worried lot as they do not know for how long they would not get salaries. For instance, Dr Sabina Harold, president of Mahatma Gandhi University Teachers’ Association, said, “Last year we had proposed for Rs 40 crore but received just Rs 21 crore.
We are a budding university. We need support till we increase the number of courses. If the UGC reduces grants we would have problems.”
The situation is grim in Kakatiya University as well since there is a deficit of Rs 25 crore. The university is managing to pay salaries from internal resources such as affiliation fee, exam fee and student recognition fee.
Prof Dayakar, president, Association of Kakatiya University Teachers’ (AKUT), said, “Illegal appointments by way of non-sanctioned posts is one of the issues that is plaguing the university.
The university needs Rs 85 crore per year to pay salaries but for the last two financial years, the government is releasing only Rs 60 crore to Rs 67 crore.”
Vacant posts are a major concern. In Kakatiya University there are 110 vacant posts; Satavahana University has just 22 permanent teachers and 70 contract teachers.
In the last three months close to 12 teachers retired in Osmania University and their fate lies in balance. V Ramesh, president, Association of Satavahana University Teachers (ASUT), said: “The government was not releasing development grant.
The salaries too were delayed. Last year, the government sanctioned Rs 7 crore but the amount was not released.”
In the meanwhile, Osmania University teachers staged a dharna in front of the administrative block on Friday and plan to stall work from Monday if the salaries are not credited on Saturday. B Satyanarayana said that for the past few months, PF amount, cooperative credit society amounts have not been credited into the account but are reflected in the pay slip.
He further added, “Rs 57.57 crore that was to be released lapsed last year. After protests, the government released just Rs 25 crore which is not sufficient.” This year the budget allocation for Osmania University is Rs 238 crore (2016-17) plus Rs 57 crore of additional grant but just Rs 59 crore was released in the second quarter.
The government is releasing piece meal installments every month and teachers are not sure for how long they would get salaries. The mood of the teachers was best summed up by Prof V Ramesh who said, “We live in a state of confusion and despair. Our lives have been reduced to ‘if’ and ‘when’.
