KU contract professors demand job regularisation

WARANGAL: The contract professors of Kakatiya University, along with students, staged a dharna in front of the administration block at Kakatiya University in Hanamkonda on Wednesday as part of the bandh call given by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the contract teachers of Telangana universities.

They claimed that during the separate Telangana movement in 2009, when Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao visited Kakatiya University, he promised all contract employees that after the formation of Telangana state, there would be no contract jobs in the state and they would be made permanent.

With the pledge made by CM KCR, all contract employees actively participated in the separate Telangana campaign by inspiring people from diverse strata and played a major role in Telangana attaining statehood. The state administration, by G.O. No.60, regularised the services of all contract employees, including junior and degree lecturers, but failed to regularise the services of contract professors working in universities.

Contract academics have engaged in agitations, rallies, and dharnas for the past 15 years, and have made more than 100 representations to the state government pushing it to regularise their positions. However, they claim that the government is merely being difficult with contract professors.

"With permanent jobs, we will be able to get many projects and funds from the UGC and will be able to guide students to complete their PhDs," they explained. As part of their agitation, contract academics announced a 48-hour indefinite strike from August 19 to August 20 at Indira Park in Hyderabad, joined by contract professors from all universities in Telangana.

JAC leaders included B. Venkat Gopinath, M. Kanakaiah, Sunitha, Ramesh, Sridhar, Sambashivudu, Nageshwara Rao, Mamidi Lingaiah, Rajeshwari, Sidharth, Venkatesh, Sahiti, Manish, and Lakshma Reddy.