Several leaders of the BJP today called on Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to discuss the "deterioration" of the higher education institutions in the state.
Prominent BJP leaders, including P Muralidhar Rao, K Laxman, N Ramchander Rao and Manohar Reddy, met the Governor at her Raj Bhavan residence, and appealed to her to "save" the state's higher education system which, they alleged, had seen continuous deterioration under the TRS' rule.
The delegation also submitted a representation to the Governor, urging her to take steps to address the shortage of teachers, the dilapidating infrastructure, the paucity of funds and the lack of Vice Chancellors in various universities in the state.
"Students had fought for the creation of Telangana, hoping that the new state would be one where they would be able to pursue and realise their many dreams. However, the apathy and negligence of the TRS government has shattered these hopes. The government has even failed to appoint VCs to the universities in the state - all the universities, except two, have been functioning without VCs for the last 18 months. Even those universities that do have VCs are often mismanaged because the government hastily appoints busy IAS officers, who have no time to look into the running of the universities, to the posts. We appeal to the Governor to address the issues crippling the higher education sector in the state. Her intervention will go a long way in helping first-generation students belonging to rural and downtrodden communities access quality education," the leaders said.
"It is a shame that not even a single recruitment has taken place in the higher education system after the formation of Telangana. Most such institutions are severely understaffed as there are hundreds of vacant teaching positions at various levels. Osmania University's psychology department, for instance, has just two assistant professors. It is no better in other universities. The understaffing has led to a severe fall in the academic standards of the state's colleges and universities, and also blatantly violates the UGC's recommended teacher-student ratio," they added.
The delegation also included in their memorandum the government's "failure" to implement the recommendations of the 11th Pay Revision Commission, and highlighted the plight of the state's teachers.
"It is not only students who have been badly impacted by the rampant mismanagement of the state's education sector, but also the teachers. The wage differential between regular and contract lecturers is a pressing problem - it is a highly discriminatory practice that needs to be withdrawn immediately," the leaders said.
They also strongly condemned the government's "failure" to implement the existing support systems put in place for underprivileged students.
This diatribe against the TRS government for its alleged failure to strengthen the education sector of the state is only one in a string of such attacks. Recently, TJS chief M Kodandaram had also
lashed out at the government for "neglecting" Telangana's teachers, while the BC Welfare Association had accused Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao of having
ruined the state's education system through his negligence and apathy towards the sector.