Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national general secretary N. Lokesh has urged Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan to order an inquiry into the allegations of ‘rampant irregularities’ in the Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, and initiate measures to protect the future of the students and staff.
Mr. Lokesh wrote a letter to the Governor on Sunday, raising concern over the alleged corruption, manipulation of professors’ appointments, misuse of the UGC funds ever since P.V.G.D. Prasad Reddy was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of AU in November, 2020.
“There has been a gross violation of multiple rules, norms, and acts in the administration of the university,” he alleged.
Mr. Lokesh alleged that the V-C had been overseeing a corrupt regime by manipulating appointments to the detriment of professors from oppressed communities, misusing revaluation procedures, shutting down long-standing institutions such as the printing press and misutilising the UGC funds meant for nurturing budding scholars. “There is an immediate need to recall the V-C to prevent the downslide of the university,” he said.
Recalling the glorious past of the AU, Mr. Lokesh said the university had a rich history with Vice-Chancellors of great repute such as Cattamanchi Ramalinga Reddy and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan moulding its destiny. “Shockingly, a university with such a legacy is being now used as a place of rehabilitation for political appointments. The V-C himself was present at a community-centric meeting during the 2019 elections,” he alleged.
UGC funds
The TDP MLC also took strong objection that lack of teaching staff was shown as a reason to bypass the AU’s faculty in making preferential appointments. Just as troubling was the non-availability of ₹100 crore granted by the UGC for 500 doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships, for their intended use. The recent protests by the students would intensify if these issues were not resolved in a fair and prompt manner, he added.
