VIJAYAWADA: The Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy Government is neglecting every sector other than power and irrigation, Communist Party of India (CPI) State Secretary K. Narayana said here on Sunday.

Addressing a meeting of Government Colleges Contract Lecturers Association (GCCLA) of Krishna, East and West Godavari districts, Mr. Narayana agreed that the Congress Government was showing some interest in constructing irrigation projects and made some progress, too. But in respect of all other sectors, it was pursuing the same set of policies of the TDP Government.

Especially in respect of education sector, Mr. Narayana found fault with the State Government for trying to `commercialise' the sector and `sell' higher education to a privileged few. While self-financed courses had already begun, private universities were on the way to being allowed, he apprehended.

Basic education

The CPI leader cautioned the Government against neglecting basic education, as this could lead to chaos in society. Already the District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) were being neglected.

The existing hierarchical system of technical education that starts from Industrial Training Institutes and polytechnics and goes up to engineering colleges was also losing relevance with the proliferation of more engineering colleges at the top in gross disproportion to the number of institutions at the bottom, he felt.

Mr. Narayana called upon contract lecturers to launch an agitation during the budget session of the Assembly for resolution of their long-pending demands. The CPI, he assured, would support the struggle as it had always done, he added.

The CPI leader termed as `ghastly' the service conditions in force for the contract lecturers, especially the outright termination of services of women lecturers if they were on family way and sought any maternity leave. He also questioned the rationale in appointing contract lecturers in regular vacancies.

No difference

CPI floor leader in the Assembly Chada Venkata Reddy said he could find no difference between the TDP Government and the Congress Government in respect of many policies. The ideas of the World Bank imbibed by Chandrababu Naidu were being continued even now, he said.

Mr. Venkata Reddy wondered how contract lecturers could ensure good results in their colleges if they perpetually lived under a high sense of insecurity. He offered to take up the demands of contract lecturers with the Chief Minister's Office.

CPI (Marxist) MLA Paturu Ramaiah felt that efforts were being made by multi-national companies to enter the country and colonise it by infusing money into education and other vital sectors.

M. V. Narasimha Rao of Acharya Nagarjuna University expressed concern over some of the decisions taken by the Central Advisory Board on Education (CABE) "in favour of privatisation and entry of foreign universities into the country".

State general secretary of GCCLA Eede Radha said that the Congress Government had betrayed the contract lecturers after promising them much in the run up to elections.

President of Krishna district unit of GCCLA K. V. Nageswara Rao presided.

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