BJP demands the state government address OU non-teaching staff immediately - BJP state chief NRR

Hyderabad: BJP State President N Ramachandar Rao said that it is extremely painful that the non-teaching staff of Osmania University have been forced to take to the streets for their legitimate rights and demanded that the Congress government and University authorities immediately invite the JAC leaders of striking employees for talks to resolve the issues.

After visiting the protest camp in front of the OU Administrative Building on Wednesday, he expressed solidarity with non-teaching, technical, time-scale, and contractual staff protesting for demands such as implementation of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), regularisation of services, and healthcare benefits.

BJP state chief warned that the party would directly back the staff's struggle and intensify the movement if the legitimate demands of Osmania University’s non-teaching staff are not resolved immediately; they have been serving for decades at the historic Osmania University, which is the heart of Telangana society.

Recalling his OU days, Rao noted that he completed his MA and LLB at this very university before entering public life and that his father worked and retired here as a professor. He expressed fury that employees working in such a great centre of education, which has produced scientists, lawyers, intellectuals, and politicians vital to nation-building, lacked proper wages, job security, and pension facilities.

He criticised the university administration for acting as if it were indifferent, despite the country's apex court, the Supreme Court, repeatedly ruling that equal work should be paid equally. He called it atrocious that time-scale and contract staff, who have struggled for 25 to 30 years with meagre salaries, are not being regularised. He questioned why the benefits being extended in other universities are not being implemented in OU. Expressing anger, he said that under the guise of attaching university accounts, the annual increments of Rs. 1,500 due to employees are being cancelled, and their financial rights are being trampled in the name of PF.

Rao demanded the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for those appointed between 2001 and 2004, and the implementation of the CPS for those after 2004. He said the LIC-linked pension system, introduced in a manner seen nowhere else, must be cancelled immediately. He demanded that employees' medical reimbursement be increased from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 30,000, and that pending internal promotions and notifications in all departments be filled immediately.

He mocked the administration for threatening employees for questioning their rights and imposing suspensions on those staging protests, calling it the height of dictatorial trends. He recalled that the suspension action taken against Professor Manohar, the former association president, had also been brought to the Governor's attention. He warned that the university administration rests entirely with the Vice-Chancellor. If it acts negligently and fails to resolve employee issues, this prestigious educational institution risks disrepute.

As an OU alumnus and former president of the OU Law College Alumni, he said he has a responsibility to protect the university's dignity.

BJP State General Secretary Gautam Rao, former professors, student union leaders, representatives of non-teaching associations from various universities, OU JAC leaders and others also visited the strike camp along with the BJP state chief.

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VRC Phaniharan

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