The Hindu : Teachers want Osmania University curbs on contesting elections to go

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 18, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad

Teachers want Osmania University curbs on contesting elections to go

By R. Ravikanth Reddy

HYDERABAD Dec. 17. Contesting the elections might be the right of every citizen, but Osmania University teachers say they are being denied the right to contest due to the provision that university teachers cannot contest as long as they continue in service. If someone wishes to take a plunge into the electoral battle, they have to resign their job and then think of elections.

Teachers are questioning the need to have such a provision when other universities like Andhra University in the State or reputed universities in the North like Allahabad University do not have any objection to their teachers taking public offices without resigning. In fact, several prominent politicians have come out of these portals and they include the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Murali Manohar Joshi.

In the just dissolved State Assembly too, there were a few teachers including Haribabu, the BJP floor leader, and Pinnanti Varalakshmi, both from Vishakapatnam. While Mr. Haribabu is a professor of Chemical Engineering in Andhra University Engineering College, Dr. Lakshmi belongs to the English Department of Andhra University. They both have joined the university after the Assembly was dissolved. This was possible because the university has treated their period of stay in the Assembly as "leave period".

Teachers also cite several other cases like Dr. Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad of the Hindi Department of Andhra University, who was Rajya Sabha member for six years before he came back and B. Chinna Appala Raju of the same university, who worked as Zilla Parishad chairman of Vishakapatnam district from 1987 to 1992. Even in Osmania University, C. Lakshmanna of the Sociology Department was elected Rajya Sabha member while on duty. Keshav Rao Jadhav of the English Department contested against the former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, without resigning the job.

"University provisions should be amended so that teachers can contest", says V. Ravindra Sastry, vice-president of the Osmania University Teachers' Association (OUTA) and a professor of Political Science. In the present environment, teachers should be encouraged to fight elections so as to articulate the academic issues. He reminds that when the Legislative Council existed, several teachers used to find a place in them.

Senior teachers say that an attempt to enable teachers contest polls was made in the 1980s, but it led to a big furore and resulted in the then Registrar, V. Ramakistayya, resigning his post. He had apparently objected to Prof. C. Lakshmanna contesting the Rajya Sabha elections with the support of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

"Prof. Ramakistayya insisted on Prof. Lakshmanna resigning first as per the rules but N.T. Rama Rao got him elected overruling the decision. Protesting against the move, Prof. Ramakistayya resigned his post," recalled a senior teacher. Interestingly, Mr. Rama Rao, impressed by Prof. Ramakistayya's penchant for rules, appointed him Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) later.

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