HYDERABAD: The faculty of more than 150 engineering colleges located in and around Hyderabad are reeling under economic stress as college managements are either providing only partial salaries or no salaries at all for the past couple of months.
The issue was raised on Thursday by the Praja Science Vedika, which claimed in a press release that many teaching and administration staff from engineering colleges have been forced to look for alternative jobs due to the situation. Some have even been forced to seek jobs through the NREGA scheme.
Dr M Suresh Babu, state president of the Praja Science Vedika, said, "Despite colleges being mandated to conduct regular classes through online mode, they are not adhering to norms and many have even fired their faculty members. Some colleges are operating with fake faculty members, while those who did not fire their staff are paying only partial salaries."
"Many teachers have expressed their grievances to the AICTE/UGC and also appealed to the State government to ensure that private colleges disburse their salaries on time. However, there has been no positive development regarding the issues," he added.
In fact, the AICTE, on Wednesday, directed all institutions to release the salaries of their staff on time and ensure that no one be terminated from service without enough disciplinary ground and due process of redressal.