KCR Government ignored teachers, neglected education sector: Shabbir

Hyderabad: Former Minister & ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir alleged that the State Government, headed by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, completely neglected the education sector and ignored the problems being faced by teachers' community.

He was addressing the Teachers' Day Programme organised by the National Solidarity Committee at Gandhi Bhavan on Saturday. NSC President and TPCC General Secretary Sk Afzaluddin informed that the programme was originally scheduled on September 5th and it was postponed due to the sudden demise of former President Pranab Mukherjee.

Speaking on the occasion, Shabbir Ali said that the State Government completely neglected the education sector. He said that KCR came to power in 2014 on the promise of giving free KG to PG education. However, his government totally ruined the entire education system from KG to PG levels. He said over 4,000 primary schools were shut down while hundreds of junior and degrees colleges were closed. The universities were deprived of funds and none of them got a full-time Vice-Chancellor in the last six years. He said not a single institution from Telangana is among the top 100 universities in the country. He pointed out that the Chief Minister did not hold a single meeting to review the issues pertaining to teachers.

Shabbir Ali said that the condition of teachers associated with private schools was highly deplorable. He said thousands of teachers did not get their salaries since March this year due to lockdown. Quoting media reports, he said many teachers and lecturers have shifted to other professions due to financial problems in lockdown. He said some lecturers have turned into vegetable vendors. He slammed the State Government for not helping the teachers' community during lockdown.

The Congress leader said that the Chief Minister has been making tall promises and cheating the people with false assurances. For instance, he said KCR's promise of 12% Muslim Reservation was totally misleading and impossible to get implemented. He said that the Supreme Court has recently struck down the Maratha reservation as it had crossed the 50% ceiling. Similarly, he said Telangana would need to cross the 50% ceiling if it wishes to increase quota for any community. Therefore, it is constitutionally impossible to increase the Muslim quota to 12% from present 4%. However, he said KCR has cheated the Muslims by making a non-implementable promise. Unlike TRS, he said that the Congress party makes promises which could be fulfilled as it believes in serving the people and not cheating them.

Shabbir Ali also honoured the frontline warriors in the battle against Coronavirus. He said the services rendered by doctors, para-medical staff, sanitation workers, police personnel, journalists and others during the pandemic was highly appreciable. He said that the State Government should take measures to adequately compensate the frontline warriors for the risks they took in fighting the Covid-19 and the sacrifices they made to serve the people.