Contract professors protest recruitment order in Telangana

Hyderabad: Hundreds of contract assistant professors on Wednesday gheraoed the Telangana State Council of Higher Education office in protest against govt order 21, which concerns the recruitment of new faculty in universities. They questioned state's recruitment of new faculty without regularising the contract teachers working in 12 state universities and providing them with job security."We should be provided at least job security by paying basic, dearness allowance, house rent allowance, and a 3% annual increment," said D Dharmateja from the Telangana State Universities Contract Teachers Joint Action Committee. He said police picked up many professors from the protest site, depriving them of their right to protest.The members of JAC condemned the ‘illegal detentions' and ‘house arrests' of contract teachers who flocked in large numbers from various districts and universities across the state for this programme since early morning. "The previous govt regularised junior lecturers, degree lecturers, and polytechnic lecturers. We also had the same eligibility criteria as degree lecturers, but our services are still not regularised. When the service of contract teachers in universities in other states was regularised, why are we being treated differently?" questioned A Parasuram from the association.They also alleged that students who stood in support of contract faculty were picked up by police and moved to Gandhinagar, Musheerabad, Chikkadapalli, Domalaguda, and Begum Bazaar police stations. The demands of the faculty also include enforcing the seventh PRC, and issuance of health cards, among others.Hyderabad police, meanwhile, said all the protesters were released by evening.