Wakf Lands In Telangana

Mohammed Younus / Hyderabad : The absence of a Wakf tribunal has been resulting in piling up of complaints of Wakf property encroachments across the city and state since last two years. Encroachers are taking advantage of official apathy and the incidents of grabbing the Wakf properties are growing in number. Though the state government vowed to stop encroachment on government and Wakf lands and properties, nothing concrete seems to have done in this regard.

Civil society groups are raising concerns over the loss of thousands of acre of land belonging to Wakf institutions across the state. They are also say that the lack of right platform to resolve the legal disputes over the encroachments. Complaints are piling up in newly constituted Telangana State Wakf Board which was already filled with pending cases related to land grabbing and encroachments. 

Recently formed Wakf Joint Action Committee (JAC) convener Nayeemullah Shareef said that the previous government had gradually made the Wakf Tribunal defunct and added that it was lying idle without functions. Even after the formation of new state the Tribunal was not constituted, he noted. He said that if the Wakf properties and lands were taken back from their encroachers the income from those lands would be sufficient for the welfare of lakhs of people from the minority community. He said, “out of 10,000 acre Wakf land in Adilabad, 3,700 was grabbed by the private parties. 

In Medak district too, out of 23,900 acre of Wakf land, only 128 acre is safe and the remaining land was encroached by the land grabbers.” Advocating for the early disposal of encroachment cases, Shareef said that the Tribunal was mandatory for resolving the issues on a war footing so that the poor people from the minority community could get benefit. In Hyderabad district, the case related to Lanco Hills case is one of the landmark cases of Wakf land encroachment. Lanco Hills was constructed on 104 acres out of a total land 1,654 acre Wakf land belonging to Dargah Hussain Shah Wali.

According to the Wakf Board Special Officer Jalaluddin Akbar agreed that the board was unable to function to its fullest capacity due to lack of adequate number of employees. He said that board would start functioning properly by the end of March this year.

Milad For A Cause

Mohammed Younus / Hyderabad : Social groups are busy asking the masses not to have wild celebrations on Milad-un-Nabi in the city and told them to remember that the occasion was a solemn on and should be used spread harmony and do social good like organising blood donation camps and conduct educational competitions for school children. As per the lunar calendar Milad-un-Nabi is on January 4 and masses are gearing up to discourage the conduct of ostentatious events in the city. 

Organisations like FOCUSS (Forum for Cultural Up gradation and Social Service) and Irshadul Muslimeen are jointly organizing a blood donation camp for the fourth consecutive year now. One of the organisers Ahsan Bin Mohammed said that the blood donation camp is organised with the help of Thalassemia Sickle Cell Society in city and the donated blood would be given to Thalassemia patients. He said that the number of donors has been on the rise every year and this year they were expecting around 2,000 units of blood. 

“Previously, 1,500 people turned up for blood donation which helped hundreds of Thalassemia patients in the city,” he said. The event organiser said that they wanted to draw the attention of crowds towards social service, rather than taking out processions on the occasion of Milad. It has been reported that this year Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali, ACB director General A K Khan and Commissioner Minority Welfare Omar Jaleel will be attending the camp scheduled to be held at Asafia Library on January 4.

Eamcet Widening Gap

Mohammed Younus / hyderabad : Telangana State Higher Education Council (TSCHE) on Wednesday staked claim on conducting Eamcet along with other CETs in the State and asserted that it was well within its right to conduct Eamcet examination. The final dates of Eamcet and other CETs would be decided at a meeting scheduled for next week. TSCHE chairman T Papi Reddy said on Wednesday that they would finalise dates and other things in a week’s time. 

A meeting with vice-chancellors of all the universities and executive committee of the council has been scheduled for January 3. Along with dates the conveners of the CETs would also be decided during the meeting

He said, “A meeting with vice-chancellors of all the universities and executive committee of the council has been scheduled for January 3. Along with dates the conveners of the CETs would also be decided during the meeting.” He said that as per the Section 75 of the AP Reorganisation Act, institutions located in the Telangana have a right to take their own decisions and if needed can offer help to the mother State. Reddy said that in the past universities of Telangana had conducted several CETs and this time too it would not be a difficulty to conduct some more tests. 

Conventionally, ICET is conducted by Kakatiya University, PGECET by Osmania University, and Eamcet by JNTUH. He flayed the statements of AP HRD Minister Ganta Srinivas in which he termed the TSCHE an invalid entity. Reddy said that a legitimate Telangana government has created the council with constitutional rights. On the other hand, it appears that after Intermediate examinations, the conduct of various common entrance tests especially Eamcet is widening the gap between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments and leading to create latest rifts.

This is evident from the series of events that had happened over a week now and latest is the notice of vacation given to the Andhra Pradesh Higher Education Council (APSCHE) by the Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University from its building located at Masab Tank. The university authorities have also put the To-Let board locking up the whole building area which was under use of AP higher education council. This has come as a shock to APSCHE which had recently released the dates for various CETs to be conducted by different universities.

The dates were announced even as the Telangana State Higher Education Council (TSCHE) was trying to arrive at a date. TSCHE officials, however, denied having any role in the issuance of notice to the APSCHE for vacating the building. Meanwhile, AP Human Resources Development Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao said they would move the Centre on the EAMCET issue if Telangana government fails to abide by Governor ESL Narasimhan’s advice to conduct the test individually one after the other. 

Addressing the media, the AP minister expressed concern over the Telangana government violating AP Reorganisation Act. He took exception to the Telangana government, which remained adamant on FAST, Inter and nativity issues and dishonoring them. “We might move either the court or approach the Centre if necessary,” he maintained. He remarked that the Telangana State Higher Education Council is not recognised and has no sanctity to conduct any such tests, he said. He also said the AP government was ready to conduct the EAMCET for 2015 and offer TS government to conduct the same in 2016 as per the advice of the Governor.

Ganta also found fault with Telangana Education Minister G Jagadish Reddy for threatening APSCHE Chairman Venugopal Reddy, who was seeking protection to his life, he lamented. He further alleged that Jagadish Reddy used filthy words and made offensive remarks besides creating a hue and cry in Venugopal Reddy’s chambers. “We tried in vain a number of times to contact Telangana Education department. Despite repeated efforts the TS government ignored them and thus the AP government came up with EAMCET date,” he maintained.

Crucial Meeting Te Decide On CETs

Mohammed Younus/ Hyderabad: Telangana Higher Education Council has called a meeting next week to decide the modalities for conducting the common entrance tests for the state on its own, official sources said on Friday. 

The meeting was scheduled to be held early this month, but got postponed for due to continuous holidays. As the dates of notification for the conduct of various CETs nearing, the pressure over the state government especially on the State Higher Education Council is building up. The meeting would discuss the conduct of ICET, ECET, PGECET, EdCET, EAMCET and Law CET and may possibly take a decision to conduct these tests separately for the state of Telangana. According to TSCHE chairman T Papi Reddy, next week all the concerned officials including secretary of higher education along with education minister would sit to discuss the issue with council members.

About Eamcet, he said that the stance of Telangana government was clear and is in accordance with the Reorganization Act. “The section 75 of the Reorganization Act clearly says that successor state of Telangana has all rights to conduct the examination on its own and our stand is the same,” he added. He said that though the AP government was continuously making statements on conducting the Eamcet commonly for both the states, nothing had happened in this regard. He said that the Telangana government has decided to conduct all the examinations under its jurisdiction without causing difficulty to the students.

In Search Of Better Talent- TSPSC To Adopt UPSC Pattern

Mohammed Younus/ Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s dream of establishing Bangaru Telangana with a strong administrative set-up is likely to encourage Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) to adopt the Union Public Service Commission’s strong recruitment policy.

"Controversial part of the UPSC examination pattern such as the CSAT and other elements will not be adopted in the recruitment process. An advisory committee will also be formed to decide on the modalities of the commission in adopting new methods of function including examination pattern reforms"

Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) officials hinted at adopting the examination pattern similar to UPSC for selecting the best candidates in government posts. Though the basic frame work of the examination pattern is similar, a major difference is the presence of negative marking in UPSC examinations. The recently appointed chairman and other members, however, are yet to finalise the modalities. The examinations conducted by state public service commission differ according to the post and category of posts. For Group I, the pattern of examination is similar to that of UPSC. All the examinations for Group I posts are conducted in three stages which include Preliminary, Mains and Interview.

However, there would not be negative marking and aptitude test in any of the stages. For Group II and Group IV category, examinations are conducted in two stages, which include Written Test and document verification or interview. TSPSC chairman Ghanta Chakrapani said that the basic agenda before the commission was to recruit the best candidates. He said, “We will adopt the best practices to suit our needs and also benefit us in making the selection process more transparent.”

He said that controversial part of the UPSC examination pattern such as CSAT and others would not be adopted in the recruitment process. “We would like to recruit highly competent candidates through TSPSC as they have to serve the state for 30 years, he said and added that no time frame has been finalised for bringing in these reforms. TSPSC officials have also informed that an advisory committee would be formed to decide on the modalities of commission in adopting new methods of function including examination pattern reforms.

Present Pattern of State Examinations
Group I
Preliminary Examination(Objective Type)- 150 Marks
Mains Examination (Conventional type)Interview/Oral Test - 750 Marks

Group II
Written Test (Objective type)- 450 Marks
Interview/ Document Verification

Group IV
Written Examination (Objective type)- 150 Marks
Document Verification

New Vice Chancellors For Universities

Mohammed Younus / Hyderabad : All universities in Telangana would soon get a permanent vice-chancellor if the State government has its way. Most probably, the task of appointing vice chancellors would be completed by mid-January next year. According to the government sources, necessary arrangements for the formation of search committees for selecting the permanent vice chancellors have been completed.

Universities require a search committee that comprises of a state government nominee, university nominee and UGC nominee. Government sources reveal that since UGC has recently completed the nomination of candidates, the way has been cleared for the formation of search committees. Out of the nine state run universities, only two are having permanent vice chancellors. Meanwhile, staff of the universities across the State continues to cry foul over the malfunctioning of varsities due to lack of vice chancellors for a long time.

As per the standard procedure, nomination is done at the first stage and then search committees are formed. Later, a notification is released by the universities. The search committees then scrutinise the applications and suggest three names to the State government. The search committee of each university suggests three names that are sent to the Governor for final approval. Telangana State Federation of University Teacher’s Associations (TSFUTA) chairman B Satyanaryana said the State Education Minister, G Jagadish Reddy, assured that search committees for each university would be formed very soon.

He also assured that the process of appointing VCs would be completed by mid-January next year. The minister also assured to increase the grants for universities which are in financial crises and facing troubles in raising salaries for the staff.

Standard Procedure of Appointment
•Nomination of candidates from UGC, State government and universities
•Formation of Search Committees for each university
•Release of notification by all the universities
•Assessment of candidates applied for the post
•Search committees suggest three names to the government
•State government sends the list of candidates to the Governor for approval

Universities without VCs
Osmania University – Hyderabad
Kakatiya University -Warangal
JNTU- Hyderabad
Dr B R A O U- Hyderabad
Palamur University-Mahabubnagar
Telangana University-Nizamabad
Prof Jayashankar Agricultural University
Universities having VC
Mahatma Gandhi University
-Nalgonda
Satavahana University-Karimnagar

B Ed Duration To Be Increased

Mohammed Younus / Hyderabad : Students aspiring to select teaching as their career would now have to spend an extra year mastering the advanced techniques of this unique profession as the duration of the Bachelor of Education (B Ed) course is all set to be raised by one year from the 2015-16 academic year. National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) is all set to make some sweeping changes by increasing the duration of BEd from one year to two years, apart from initiating some major changes to the curriculum. 

The proposals are aimed at improving the quality of teacher education. As part of the proposed reforms in the entire higher education system in the country, the central government has already proposed several changes in teacher education. The eligibility to apply for B Ed would remain the same wherein a candidate needs to complete a three-year undergraduate course. With this, one has to study for five years to become a teacher (3 years of graduation and 2 years of B Ed). Experts feel that a change in the duration of the course and curriculum would give professional edge to aspirants, similar to other professional courses like BE (four years), MBBS (five-and-a-half years) and CA (five- years).

This change also comes with some strict norms wherein students would have to complete BEd within three years from the date of admission and also have an attendance of 80%. The proposal was put forth earlier during a meeting of vice-chancellors conducted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). It was also communicated to the universities that a framework to formulate the syllabus would be sent to them very soon. The reforms would include strict norms for colleges providing teacher education studies. Only those colleges having required infrastructure and facilities would be permitted to increase the intake of students.

In the first phase, these changes would be adopted by a few universities from the next academic year and later other varsities would implement it from 2016-17. The framework of syllabus would be decided after convening a meeting with eminent educationists to discuss the current curriculum and possibilities of bringing changes on a par with international standards.