Students,Faculty Left In The Lurch
Highlights
Printing industry in general and the Government Institute of Printing Technology (GIPT), Secunderabad, in particular, were among the worst hit in the post-bifurcation period of Andhra Pradesh.
Printing industry in general and the Government Institute of Printing Technology (GIPT), Secunderabad, in particular, were among the worst hit in the post-bifurcation period of Andhra Pradesh.
As an institute that catered to a specific profession, GIPT grew consistently since the time it came into being 38 summers ago. What set it apart was the fact that it guaranteed 100 per cent placement, which in turn got reflected when the intake was doubled from 60 in 2008.
Students came from all over Telangana, coastal belt and Rayalaseema. There was all-round vibrancy, including in terms of recruitment of faculty, which I can assert first-hand having been associated with the institute for over three fruitful decades. That was then. Now there is a seachange and it does not augur well.
The equations changed and it was only students from Telangana who sought admissions.It has been retained by the Telangana State government by virtue of its location.
And that is precisely where the problems, rather confusion, have surfaced. Unfortunately, the AP Reorganisation Bill has not gone into specifics of how to deal with statewide institutions like GIPT. The less said the better about the staff structure at this institute.
The entire faculty in printing subjects belong to Andhra region and there is not even a single person from Telangana, the last one having retired on December 31 of last year.
The staff is in a dilemma on whether to opt for their State or stay put here. Tragically, they are ignorant of whether they will be given any option at all to either stay back or opt for Andhra Pradesh. On one hand they have the temptation of serving two more years if they opt for AP while on the other having to forego their attachment with Hyderabad where they spent more than two decades. Their children have been in educational institutions in today’s common capital
There is no specific information whether AP government is going to establish a separate institute. Till such time the faculty here are between the devil and the deep sea.
The plight of the students belonging to Andhra Pradesh is all the more pathetic.Not preferring to join here in spite of AP Reorganisation Act which ensures them admission for ten years, the students are left high and dry. Adding salt to their wounds is the fact that employment potential is very high in printing industry both in private, government and abroad. Over 1,500 students have been produced in the institute and a majority are well settled in government jobs in the banking sector not to speak of private industry in India and abroad. Nearly 15 per cent of the diploma holders are working abroad.
The scenario will be totally different if AP does not act on a war-footing. Unless the Government of Andhra Pradesh takes a quick decision of establishing another institute in AP, the students will be left in the lurch. Greater the delay will mean greater the misery of the student-community belonging to Andhra Pradesh, particularly because the employment potential is also very high.
While doing so, any attempt to dilute its autonomous status may boomerang on the government considering the fact that so far the existing institute yielded successful results all through these years either in terms of students pursuing degree courses, seeking employment in India and abroad or becoming entrepreneurs.
With the new State getting special status and concessions, more printing and packaging units will be set up and the need for man power will also multiply in the next five years. Likewise, the Government of Telangana should also reinforce the existing institute by recruiting at least eight lecturers against the vacant posts in addition to recruiting eight senior instructors to meet the requirements of theory and practical subjects respectively.
A good number of non-printing people are posted here beyond their requirement at the cost of printing faculty as a result of which the students are left to suffer. Posts are vacant, need for recruitment is acute and hopefuls are waiting for the TSPSC to act at the earliest. Telangana diploma holders, graduates and post graduates in printing technology are eagerly waiting for their big day.
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