Sri Venkateswara University Academic Consultants: Row over non-renewal of contract in Tirupati

Tirupati: Not renewing the contract of 52 Academic Consultants (ACs) out of 350 by Sri Venkateswara University (SVU) authorities has turned into a controversy.

The reason for not renewing their contract was that they were reportedly appointed by the previous TDP government. SVU Registrar P Sreedhar Reddy has issued orders of extending contract of 298 ACs for the academic year 2019-2020. About 70 per cent of ACs including those who have not got renewal have been working for the last 3 years. Responding over the controversy, the SVU officials are saying that ACs were selected based on UGC guidelines.

However, the varsity officials recruited ACs without PhD in Zoology, English and Computer Science departments. Earlier, the varsity officials had stated that they will continue the services of ACs if they have 3 years of teaching service. On Monday, the student organisations staged a protest in front of varsity's administrative building for not renewing contract of few ACs on the pretext of that they were appointed on the recommendation of the TDP government.

SFI district secretary N Madhav came down heavily on SVU officials for sacking 52 ACs. He criticised the SVU authorities for acting as per their whims and fancies. Several ACs, whose services were not renewed, had required educational qualifications, he stated. TNSF district president R Anand Goud slammed the SVU officials for removing 52 ACs from the jobs with grudge.

Clarifying on the issue, varsity Registrar has informed the media that ACs were recruited as per the guidelines of the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE). All the appointments were made in a transparent manner without giving scope of allegations, he mentioned.