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OU weeps over insufficient budget
The meagre amount of Rs 238 crore allocated for Osmania University (OU) in the Telangana budget on Wednesday came as a rude shock for the university authorities. The budget stands in stark contrast against the representations made by teachers’ association and other authorities from the university, requesting the government to grant at least Rs 450 crore to meet the requirements of the varsity.
The meagre amount of Rs 238 crore allocated for Osmania University (OU) in the Telangana budget on Wednesday came as a rude shock for the university authorities. The budget stands in stark contrast against the representations made by teachers’ association and other authorities from the university, requesting the government to grant at least Rs 450 crore to meet the requirements of the varsity.
Though the current budget has toppled the previous one by Rs 67 crore, the authorities repined that the hiked amount would not cater to OU’s growing needs. “Salaries and pensions alone require at least Rs 320 crore. The budget will not be sufficient and the government has to explore other options to meet the needs of the institution,” Battu Satyanarayana of Osmania University Teachers’ Association told CityTAB.
“The upkeep of hostels and computer labs, and the repairs that have to be carried cannot be done with the allocated budget,” he said, informing that Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma had agreed to grant adequate funds when they met him some time ago. “Each time we make representations to the government requesting grant of adequate funds, little attention is being paid”, Satyanarayana said.
It is not just OU that is crying over insufficient funds but most of the universities across the State. Hari, a lecturer, pointed out that there was no mention of improving infrastructure and recruitments to fill vacant teacher posts. While 600 teaching and non-teaching posts are vacant in OU, Kakatiya University has to fill up 40 posts. The Telangana University needs to fill 80 posts, Satavahana University 30 posts, and the number in Palamuru University is 50.
Chairman of Telangana Intellectuals Forum Prof. PL Vishweshwar Rao recollected Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s promise to provide free education from KG to PG and said that the government was hampering the quality of higher education. “When you are talking about quality education, you mush allocate sufficient funds.
Almost all the universities in the State have been suffering due to lack of infrastructure. It is not possible to produce skilled students without establishing required facilities like labs, libraries and other infrastructure. Development of OU and other universities in the State would need at least Rs 200 crore and these would not happen without the required human resources,” Vishweshwar said.
By:Raghu Paithari
