HYDERABAD: With unemployment a huge issue in Telangana, brewing anger among the recent veterinary graduates against the university recruiting already-employed veterinarians is soon to become a major issue. The Animal Husbandry department released a circular on Wednesday calling for interested and eligible veterinarians, already employed with State government, as VAS or Assistant Directors possessing PG or PhD, to work as Assistant Professor in three veterinary colleges run by PV Narsimha Rao Telangana Veterinary University, due to shortage of teaching staff in these varsities.
The order has further irked the students already displeased with absence of recruitment since the State formation. Telangana Veterinary Graduates Association president, Dr Katam Sridhar, is of the opinion that recent graduates are better suited for the post than those who completed their academics at least 10-15 years ago. Moreover, the already ill-funded university will now have to bear huge sums of salaries and they will be paid to those already employed in decent positions.
However, one practical reason pointed out by a senior official at the Animal Husbandry department is related to the ongoing court case against the university in question. Last year the government had accorded permission for recruitment but it ran into legal trouble while the case is pending in the court. With this recruitment order, the university is looking at a temporary fulfilment of staff needs.
In such a case if fresh graduates are recruited, it will be a difficult task to end their contracts once the pending court case is cleared and university wants to conduct permanent recruitment while the Animal Husbandry staff will work on deputation, known as ‘foreign service’.
New zonal system to delay recruitment
Hyderabad Veterinary students are in for a rough year ahead as the process to apply for Veterinary Assistant Surgeon posts in the government is set to be delayed. Officials at the animal husbandry department pointed out that the new zonal system brought after the State was separated creating seven zones out of the earlier two zones, the staff working for each department also has to be sorted now. Only after this process is completed and it is decided whether the veterinary jobs fall in the zone-wise or multi-zonal system category, a request for recruitment can be sent to the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC). While this process itself does not take much time, the state government has to give a go-ahead for the recruitment as well and the case is similar in all the State departments that want to conduct recruitment. Neighbouring Andhra Pradesh witnessed aggressive and widespread protests by veterinary students over lack of recruitment, that might fuel similar protests here as well.