Time to call out corporate discriminatory policies

Hyderabad: Are Indian and foreign corporate entities running their businesses in the two Telugu States adopting discriminatory practices towards the State universities and public-run higher educational institutions?

If goings on are any indication, to name a few, several entities in the divergent fields from infrastructure, finance and banking, technology, manufacturing, life sciences, aviation, and project consulting have been operating in Hyderabad for the past several decades since the time of United Andhra Pradesh. "Several businesses of these corporate entities have seen an upward curve since the city of pearls had made its mark in information technology on the global map. Additionally, they come for the campus recruitment. Some provide internship opportunities, mostly non-paid internships for our students. But, I have not come across even a single entity, either Indian or foreign, having ever come forward to establish an endowment or chair for studies in any field,” said the Vice-Chancellor of a State university from Andhra Pradesh.

Vouching for this, another Vice-Chancellor of a State university from Telangana pointed out several Indian entities engaged in steel manufacturing and huge infra projects to establish chairs of studies and endowments in foreign universities and Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs).

"We fail to understand why an Indian company operating its businesses is more proactive and liking to establish endowments and chairs of studies even in the areas of Indian studies and liberal arts in countries like the USA, UK, and few other European and Western lands," he rues.

Additionally, a senior official from the Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) pointed out that it is not that these companies do not extend support for various programmes and projects under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

But, the catch is that they have been shying away from supporting 'impactful fields of study and research' in the State universities and public-run colleges. "Mostly, if at all, they support it was in the case of IITs, NITs, and national and Central universities, which have been known for their brain drain," he pointed out.

Giving a specific example, he said a multinational consulting firm offering professional services has been the darling of successive governments for the past three decades in the Telugu States.

Similarly, a real estate infrastructure development Indian company has been one of the few companies executed and still executing government infra projects to the tune of thousands of crores for more than a decade or so, both in Hyderabad in Telangana and Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh. But none of them are inclined to support the establishment of any chairs of studies, research, or even a scholarship.

The academicians and university officials fear openly expressing their disappointment at the corporate entities adopting discriminatory practices, following one set of rules for the local State-run institutions where they are running their businesses, a different one for the institutions abroad supporting foreign currencies.