Contract assistant professors of Telangana universities protest at education minister’s house

Hyderabad: Education Minister Sabita Indra Reddy on Friday assured the State Universities Contract Assistant Professors (SUCAPs) that the government is positive about regularisation of their services. Her assurance came while interacting with SUCAPs from 12 universities who staged a protest before her residence. According to Dr DhramaTej, convenor, Osmania University Contract Teachers’ JAC, the SUCAPS told the minister that they have been protesting for regularisation of services for the past 25 days. They demanded immediate regularisation.

Responding, the minister said the Cabinet sub-committee–with Ministers KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao–will discuss the issue by Wednesday and submit its report to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. She said the government “is positive about the regularisation of the services of contract assistant professors”.

The protesting APs told the minister they wait for another 10 days for the decision. “If the government fails to act, they will intensify the agitation by organising a series of programmes, starting with a pen-down strike, followed by indefinite relay hunger and ‘VantaVarpu.’ Finally, an indefinite strike will bring the closing of academic activities across the State universities to halt, they warned.