Hyderabad: The TS government has informed the Hyderabad High Court that there is no provision in the HMDA Act for sharing of various fees and charges collected by the Authority with gram panchayats and nagar panchayats located in its limits. The High Court had earlier sought the stand of the state government in sharing the revenue of the HMDA with the gram and nagar panchayats while dealing with a petition by Jammi Nagamani, sarpanch of Kompally in Ranga Reddy district.
Ms Nagamani contended that the HMDA is collecting crores of rupees towards layouts / building approvals in villages falling in its limits, but the local bodies are the executive agencies and provide all basic amenities in these layouts or buildings with their own funds. The state government informed the court that the gram panchayat is supposed to provide amenities in the village with its general funds as it also collects a certain fee and charges.
The HMDA is supposed to provide trunk infrastructure like radial roads, ring roads, flyovers and development of lakes on a larger scale. The court was told that gram panchayats are collecting layout and building fee as per the AP Panchayat Raj Act while granting building permissions as per the powers delegated to them or while releasing the technically approved plans communicated by the HMDA.
Varsity librarians to be in service till age 60: HC
The Hyderabad High Court has ruled that librarians working in universities also come within the definition of teachers and thereby are entitled to continue in service till they reach the age of 60. A division bench, comprising Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar and Justice B. Siva Sankara Rao, was allowing an appeal by Abdul Hakeem, former librarian, Professor Jaya Shankar Agricultural University (PJSTSAU), challenging the decision of the PJSTSAU that university library professionals shall be treated as non-vacation academic staff based on a GO issued in 2003 by the Higher Education department of AP.
The appellant moved the appeal after a single judge dismissed his petition based on an earlier judgment of another division bench delivered in 2006. The present bench noted that the there was a sweeping change in service conditions of librarians, more particularly from the academic year 2009-10, in view of the amendments to the post-graduate studies regulations of 1980, in the year 2010.
The bench pointed out that the universities across the country introduced the non-credit compulsory course in Library and Information Sciences for MSc and PH.D students, from the academic year 2009-2010 based on the recommendations of Indian Council for Agricultural Research and consequently the nature of duties being performed by librarians were re- designated as Assistant Professors.
The bench observed that the AP Agricultural University Act 24 of 1963, which came into force from May 4, 1964, had given an inclusive definition of ‘teacher’ under Section 2(n) as “Teacher includes a professor, reader, lecturer or other person appointed or recognised by the university for the purpose of imparting instruction or conducting and guiding research or extension programmes, and any person declared by the statutes to be a teacher.” The bench ruled that in view of the changed circumstances, the proceedings of the varsity were not tenable.
