Telangana: Only woman' ad kicks off row

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Public Service Commission’s (TSPSC) employment notice for the post of lecturers at residential degree colleges has sparked off a controversy over its “Only women” clause. The notice has sought applications from women candidates exclusively, for the 546 vacancies in residential degree colleges. The TSPSC also put out a notice, advertising for 30 posts for principals, again only for women applicants.

The students from Osmania University are calling this move unconstitutional. “We are not against the women candidates but they must have equal number of seats for male and female candidates,” said Koturi Manavtha Roy, member of Telangana Students and Unemployed Joint Action Committee. The TSPSC secretary Vani Prasad said these vacancies were for 30 women-only residential colleges. “The notifications are in line with the government order that states that only women candidates can apply for jobs in women-only residential colleges,” said Ms Vani Prasad.

This move was taken to ensure the safety of the women in the colleges as there have been many complaints in the past reported against male employees, she added. But the student group has collectively rejected this claim. “We demand that they show us the details of this G.O. We will contest this unconstitutional order in court,” said the students protesting against this.

They are also alleging corruption in the way recruitments are done for residential institutions as the procedure is outsourced to third parties in case of non-teaching staff. When questioned about vacancies that were left unfilled, the TSPSC reserved their comments. IPS Praveen Kumar was unavailable for his comment. There are presently 36 vacancies for lecturers at Telangana Backward Classes Welfare Residential Degree colleges and 510 vacancies in Telangana Social Welfare Residential Degree colleges.