By Ram Mohan Pulipati
Telangana Chief Minister KCR has given a big boost to the education sector in the last eight years, said TRS Nizamabad Rural MLA and TSRTC Chairman Bajireddy Goverdhan. Goverdhan was speaking as the Chief Guest at Excel India Seminar on: “CM KCR Vision: Telangana University Growth” at the university main campus, Dichpally, near Nizamabad on February 28, Monday.
Telangana University (TU), established in 2006, falls under the limits of Goverdhan’s assembly constituency. The seminar was addressed by a galaxy of speakers including Telangana State Council of Higher Education Chairman Prof R Limbadri, former chairman Prof Papi Reddy, TU Vice-Chancellor Prof D Ravinder Gupta, Registrar Prof Shiva Shankar.
Excel India Chief Editor Rama Krishna Sangem, The Hans India deputy editor Bhaskar Tatikonda, Excel India associate editor Ram Mohan Pulipati, TU Executive Council member Dr Maraiah Goud, Surabhi group of educational institutions Chairman Ajitha Maramraju, RK Group of educational institutions chairman Dr M Jaipal Reddy.
Ushodaya group of educational institutions chairman Surya Prakash, local public leaders Indira, Mohan and TU faculty member Prof Triveni. Telangana State Planning Board vice-chairman B Vinod Kumar was supposed to be the chief guest, but he couldn’t make as he accompanied CM KCR to Delhi on the day.
Bajireddy, as he is popularly called by his friends and fans, was the MLA of Banswada in Nizamabad district in 2006 when the location of TU was selected at the present site. Then he was a Congress MLA and close to then CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy. Goverdhan was responsible for selecting the present site of around 570 acres.
The location adjacent to National Highway No 44, connecting Hyderabad and Nagpur, is perched on a hillock with beautiful scenic backdrop. “I fought with the site search committee members and got this site for Telangana University, named after our beloeved Telangana state,” said Goverdhan, amid applause from the gathering.
Goverdhan now chairman of TS RTC said that CM KCR gave top priority to education, from KG to PG, since formation of Telangana state in 2014. “Today, we have around 900 residential schools and colleges in our state and the average money spent on each student is around Rs 1, 20,000, which is the highest in India,” said Bajireddy. He promised to solve all issues raised by the VC and others.
Prof Limbadri said that the government was going to fill vacancies to the teaching posts in all state run 11 universities soon. “TU is the third largest public university after Osmania and Kakatiya in Telangana. The state council will soon launch online classes for all students. Prof Limbadri asked students to concentrate on studies to come up in life.
Prof Papi Reddy, who was the first chairman of the Telangana state council of higher education for seven years till last year end, recalled his days in strengthening the universities. He asked the varsity authorities to turn challenges into opportunities. “The government should be more proactive and solve the pending issues of universities,” Prof Reddy said.
VC Prof Ravinder urged the state government to sanction Rs 100 crore funds to develop TU on par with the best in the country. TU which enjoys B Grade of NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) will achieve A Grade in the next two years, said Prof Ravinder. Ravinder had received the Young Scientist award earlier.
Registrar Prof Shiva Shankar recalled his association with TU since its beginning 16 years ago. He thanked MLA Bajireddy for the selection of the present site as the university’s main campus. He said the varsity needs to build some hostels and stadium etc, and urged both Bajireddy and Limbadri to sanction funds.
Dr Maraiah Goud said TU should be granted hostels for women, a stadium for sports and an examination branch building immediately. He asked the authorities to lend support to rural students. Dr Jaipal Reddy asked the government to include nearby Adilabad, Nirmal and Medak districts to TU jurisdiction and start new job oriented courses. Surya Prakash agreed with them.
Ajitha explained how present day students can pursue job oriented courses in the fields of visual arts and fine arts. She, granddaughter of former PM PV Narasimha Rao and daughter of TRS MLC Vani Devi, runs Surabhi Group of educational institutions in Hyderabad. Bhaskar Tatikonda said three elements – infrastructure, faculty and quality of education were important today.
Rama Krishna Sangem explained how Excel India was committed to promoting the role of catalyst in sunrise fields like higher education, health, energy etc. Ram Mohan Pulipati presented Way Forward of the seminar, saying further debates should be held to develop TU, among other universities. Triveni proposed vote of thanks.
