KURNOOL: The Covid-19 pandemic has brought drastic changes in the lives of engineering colleges’ teaching and non-teaching staff in the last one-and-a-half years. Close to 120 engineering college employees died during the second wave after facing severe financial difficulties, AP Technical Professional Institutions Employees Association president MV Bramananda Reddy said. There are 427 engineering colleges in the state and more than 10,000 people are working for them. Nearly 10 famous engineering colleges are there in the district with over 1400 people working there as professors, associate professors and assistant professors and 60 per cent of them have completed their Ph D in various subjects.
Managements of many engineering colleges are not paying salaries to the staff, especially the teaching staff including professors, associate professors, assistant professors, making their life very difficult during the pandemic. “The staff of private engineering colleges had been leading a dignified life. However, the unexpected and sad situation cropped up because Covid- 19 affected the lives of the teaching and non-teaching staff of almost all Engineering colleges in the state,” he explained.
The shining examples for this situation have already been highlighted in the media— some of the faculty members have taken to alternative ways for supporting their families as tea-sellers, vegetable vendors and daily wage-workers, keeping aside their so-called status. But the percentage of those who have sought alternate livelihood options is very small, he pointed out. He urged the state government to conduct an inquiry and take appropriate action against the managements which are not paying salaries to their staff.
He also urged the state government to help them and their families come out of the crisis. “If the government does not respond to our appeals, we have no other option but to take up agitations,” he said and demanded that the Higher Education department ensure the payment of salaries is implemented properly. Venkat Kumar, an English professor and a Ph D scholar, said that low salaries, scarcity of funds with the managements, delay of government funds and fee reimbursement to the private college managements drove the teachers into darkness. Moreover, online classes forced them to learn new teaching practices and lack of proper equipment like computers, laptops and internet drove many into a stressful mood, stated the English professor.