Dharnas, rallies break out on EFLU campus

HYDERABAD: The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) campus was rife with protests and rallies on Tuesday with teachers and students conducting dharnas against the administration. The campus community is peeved with the lax administration due to the absence of permanent higher authorities including vice-chancellor and registrar for the past one and half years. The EFLU Teachers' Association (EFLUTA) held a sit-in from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. outside the administration block to display their discontent with the university administration. They demanded that the university strictly follows the central government and UGC rules, which have been ignored so far. V B Tharakeshwar, president of EFLUTA said: "The university has been functional for the last year-and-a-half only due to the efforts of the teachers."Promotions of teachers under Career Advancement Scheme (CAS), quarters for teaching staff, anomalies in salaries and provident fund and pending sixth pay commission salary arrears are few other issues that EFLUTA seeks to set right.The protesters also voiced their anger at the lack of response from the administration despite their attempts to submit written memorandums and letters. "The only communication between the two sides happened on Monday when the registrar's office issued a letter to us," said EFLUTA members.The letter stated that it was unlawful for the teachers to go on strike and asked them not to abandon their duties. In response, EFLUTA members said they were merely conducting a sit-in dharna without affecting the studies of students. In support of the teachers, the ABVP student organisation in the campus also took out a rally from Basheer men's hostel to the administration block which culminated in the burning of an effigy of Kapil Sibal. They put forward a list of demands from the students community and alleged that the administration, that is currently being run only by acting and in-charge administrative staff, is incapable of taking concrete decisions. "We are fighting not for our demands, but for our rights," said K Janardhan of ABVP, EFLU. The student group asserted that the dharna would continue until their demands are fulfilled.