Hyderabad: The quashing of vice chancellors’ appointments by the Hyderabad High Court has emboldened Osmania University teachers to take on the Telangana state government in the Supreme Court as well.
The main contentions of teachers as well as student leaders in Osmania University have been the four Government Orders (GO) – 28, 29 and 38 released last year, and GO MS 1 released this year in January.
While GOs 28 and 29 were for removal of the Governor as chancellor of state universities and giving powers to the state government to appoint separate chancellors for all universities, GOs 38 and 1 were for tweaking the revised UGC scales of pay, 2006 guidelines on appointment of vice-chancellors, reducing the work experience from 10 years as a professor in a university system or 10 years of experience in an equivalent position in a reputed research organisation and opening doors to non-academics for the VC’s post.
Mr Battu Satyanarayana, president of the Osmania University Teachers Association and TS Federation of University Teachers Association said, the removal of the Governor as chancellor means that the government will have the power to appoint anyone, including politicians who will have powers to interfere in university matters based on what suits their interests.
“The universities stand to lose their autonomy if the GO would have been allowed to continue without being challenged in court. The government has clearly violated guidelines and we are confident that it will not hold true in any court of law,” he said.
Two of the eight vice chancellors appointed recently by the government — Prof. B. Raja Ratnam of Palamuru University and Prof. P. Sambiah of Telangana University — have less than the 10 years experience as professors, prescribed by the UGC as one of the requirements for appointment of a vice-chancellor.
M. Krishank, student and OUJAC leader, said, “The government did not show any concern towards development of any state university, With the introduction of four GOs it tried to have a stranglehold on the universities autonomy which would have destroyed education.”
