Hundred Crore Scam in GHMC

A major chunk of the Rs 525-crore allocation made in the budget for maintenance of vehicles in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has been found to be misappropriated by the officials concerned during the past five years.

-Autos shown in records as 25-tonne tipper trucks

-Maintenance cost higher than cost of new vehicles

-Expenditure claimed on vehicles not in use

-Expenses for 7 vehicles were claimed in 2 offices :

(AP11W3658, AEY6739, AP9T9, AP11X6060, AP11v5323 (KVD), AP29T0091, F/R 23244).

Officials are unable to account for nearly Rs 100-crore of what was sanctioned for repairs, periodic overhaul and fuels of the corporation’s large fleet of 874 vehicles. An RTI reply by municipal officials stated that nearly Rs 167 crore was spent for vehicle maintenance and Rs 363 crore on fuel during past five years. Similarly, three-wheeler autos engaged were shown as tipper lorries and 25-tonne vehicles in the account books for drawing extra amounts under the head.

Moreover, several vehicles belonging to GHMC were used by private parties. Some of the vehicles involved in traffic violation were challaned adding to the cost of vehicle maintenance. Shockingly, it was also disclosed that GHMC incurred Rs 1.5 lakh expenditure for the maintenance of a motorcycle and Rs 1.24 lakh for a Bajaj Chetak for five years. Disclosing details given by the GHMC in response to the query, Lok Satta leader B Sambi Reddy said that out of 874 vehicles, 370 vehicles were found to be more than 15 years old while some 99 vehicles were declared unfit by the Transport Department.

He alleged that it was a hundred-crore scam by GHMC officials. He said, “The amounts spend by GHMC on the maintenance of vehicles was nearly four times the value of a new vehicle.” Ironically, no action was taken against people responsible for indulging in over expenditure, though a vigilance and ACB enquiry was conducted on the issue in the past.

The enquiry report is still with the department concerned. Another Lok Satta functionary Jagan Metla alleged that municipal officials have unscrupulously shown non-existent expenditure. He questioned the inaction of government even after conducting an enquiry against several officers concerned with the GHMC Transport Department.

Proposal of Bio-metric attendance opposed

Teachers are opposing the proposed installation of biometric attendance system and CCTV cameras at government junior colleges across the State and have demanded the government to drop the proposal.

Biometric attendance system for students

- Last date for tenders for installing biometric and CCTV cameras: Nov 30

- Lecturers’ body represented the issue with principal secretary and Commissioner,Intermediate education

- Project of biometric and CCTV camera is worth Rs 2 crore

- No money released for up-gradation of colleges ( Rs 5 crore) under free Intermediate education announcement

Alleging that these measures would deter students from attending college, the teachers sought to know the purpose of these initiatives. Government Junior College Lecturers Association president P Madhusudhan Reddy said that all positive steps of the State government towards improving standards at intermediate level would boomerang if it goes ahead with the proposed biometric attendance system in colleges.

He said that the average attendance of students at intermediate level in the State was about 60 per cent and that was based on socio-economic circumstances of the students. “It is quite impossible for every student to reach college in time and it will bring down their attendance percentage. They will not be eligible to appear in any examination,” he observed. Reddy said that while the average attendance was only 60 per cent, it goes down to 30 per cent during harvest time because most of the students find it difficult to attend colleges in rural areas, owing to their agriculture related compulsions.

According to sources there are 1.62 lakh students enrolled in 402 junior colleges spread across the State. There were 1.15 students during the last academic year. He alleged that there were vested interests behind the proposal of installing CCTVs and biometric attendance system and not reforms. Madhusudan Reddy said that after the State government has announced free intermediate education, the number of students enrolling in government colleges has increased.

However, he suggested to the State government to focus on providing basic amenities and facilities in junior colleges across the State. He informed that nearly 250 colleges do not have toilets and 75 colleges were functioning without sanctioned staff. Besides these, 50 per cent of the colleges do not have a compound wall. Intermediate Board does not allow a student to take exam if his attendance is below 75 per cent. He said, “biometric system is surely a detention policy. When the government is implementing non-detention policy at the school level, why can’t such a stand be taken at the intermediate level?”

Study Circle, A Non Starter

The Minorities Study Circle, which was launched to give free training the communities’ students appearing for competitive examinations, failed to release any notification even after two months of its inception. The study circle was established by the State government to function on a par with other study circles under BC and ST, SC Welfare Departments. Its first notification was expected to come up by October 15, but it is yet to materialise.

Thousands of students belonging to minority communities have been eagerly waiting for the notification as the recruitment notifications for various departments were being released by the departments concerned over the past six months. The State government announced to fill vacancies in various departments including police, irrigation, health, revenue, electricity and at other gazzeted positions through the TS Public Service Commission.

The study circle was aimed at providing necessary basic coaching for any competitive examination conducted by any recruiting agency in the State besides examinations by the Union Public ServiceCommission. When asked, study circle director D Neeraja attributed the delay to the announcement of byelection to the Warangal Lok Sabha. She said that after getting a nod from the State Election Commission, the study circle would release notification for different coaching courses.

“If EC allows us to go ahead with the notification, we will immediately release it or else we may have to wait till November 25, the date of announcement of poll results,” she said. It is to be noted that poll dates were declared on October 22, six days ahead of the earlier deadline of the study circle to release the notification for admission.

The director further said that so far the study circle was ready with notification for competitive examinations of Probationary Officers (PO) in banks, group examinations and civil services examinations.She said arrangements for hiring experienced faculty from reputed coaching centers have been underway.

Save Faith Save Constitution

All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPL), an apex body of Muslims in India, has announced to launch a nationwide campaign opposing the Centre’s attempts to impose a particular culture and religion on all Indians, especially on minorities and marginalised sections.

In a media interaction on Saturday, board’s national general secretary Maulana Sajjad Naumani said that a national campaign ‘Save Faith Save Constitution’ would be launched across the country against the Centre. “As part of the campaign, public meetings, symposiums and awareness programmes will be organised,” he informed. He said that all the minority communities include Sikhs, Jains, Budhists and Christians besides Dalits and Adivasis have extended their support to the campaign.

Explaining further about the campaign, he said that the Constitution of India allows every citizen to follow a religion and culture of his/her choice and a particular religion or culture cannot be imposed on all.

Naumani said that the people of India want the government to address physical issues rather than introducing Surya Namaskar, Vande Mataram, Yoga and others. He said that Muslim youth across the country are disturbed a lot because of Union government’s repeated attempts to provoke the Minorities at every level and promoting a particular culture.

The board’s general secretary said, “India is a country where people of various religions have been coexisting for centuries and this social and secular fabric of the country cannot be disturbed, which is guaranteed by the Constitution.”

Naumani said that India can be prospered only when ‘sab ka saath, sab ka vikas’ is truly implemented and religious freedom of the people is upheld.

He sought to know that whether Muslim and other communities did not play a key role in the freedom struggle. Replying to a query, Naumani said that a representation to the MHRD would be given for the New Education Policy and they would meet the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and others to explain their point seeking to stop the promotion of a particular culture.

He demanded the Central government to implement the Constitution with its true spirit. Maulana Khaled Saifullah Rahmani has been nominated as the campaign convener in the State.

Arresting the Speed of Youth

Mohammed Younus :

In an attempt create awareness on the number of road accidents in the city and also the road safety, a city-based social group is observing September 11 as World Day of Remembrance of Road Traffic Victims. It also celebrates this day as ‘Anti-Speed Day’ globally by organising events to create awareness among youth about careless & speed driving that results in fatal accidents. The organisation ‘Youth against Speed’ was started by the father of a road accident victim in the year 2012.

President of the group Mohammed Khaleequr Rahman said, “Earlier we started the group focusing only on speed, but as we have started campaigning for safety norms we came to know that there are several other reasons for occurrence of accidents.” In urban areas, improper engineering of roads, lack of lane driving, lack of road sense and lack of traffic sense among the people leads to accidents, which in some cases prove fatal, said Rahman.

Khaleequr Rahman’s son and his nephew, son of a noted cricketer and former Indian cricket captain Azharuddin, have died in a road crash on the expressway outside the city in 2011. This particular incident triggered Khaleequr Rahman to start a campaign against the speed riding by the youth. “We organise lectures, interactive sessions and awareness programs on 11th of every month in colleges, schools and localities,” said Rahman.

He has been using social media extensively to popularise his efforts in creating awareness among the youth. Facebook page and a YouTube channel are being dedicated for educating youth on road accidents. An oath is administered to the youth in each programme they conduct that they would not drive carelessly but responsibly. 

As per the data provided by the state traffic police department most of the accident victims during the year 2014 were between the age group of 15 to 40 years.

Age Group                Accidental deaths

15 - 20           ------            57

20 - 25           ------            122

25 - 30            ------            155

30 - 35           ------            109

35 - 40           ------            102 

So far he has conducted hundreds of placard awareness programmes in Hyderabad, Delhi, Dubai, Sharjah, Australia, Saudi Arabia and few other places. Rahman said that several international organisations including traffic management departments have consulted him and appreciated his work for spreading awareness on road safety besides inviting his group for participation. He has roped in several sports personalities like tennis player Sania Mirza and other dignitaries belonging to city to strengthen his voice in support of safety measures on roads.

Union Elections at Universities

Mohammed Younus :

Student groups and unions have been coming out in support of the student union elections on university campuses in the State ever since the University Grants Commission issued a directive regarding the same.

The directive of the UGC has given a push to the voice of students, who have been in favour of elections on varsity campuses. They have now come out strongly in support of the move seeking an immediate nod from the State government. Progressive Democratic Student Union representative Avula Ashok said that due to lack of proper representation of students in the Executive Councils, a decisive body in all the varsities, the decisions are being taken were not in favour of students rather in support of managements

The directive of the UGC has given a push to the voice of students, who have been in favour of elections on varsity campuses. They have now come out strongly in support of the move seeking an immediate nod from the State government. Students believe that if the ban on student union elections is lifted and fair elections are conducted, it would pave the way for establishing a young leadership among the prospective candidates in a democratic way.

No state university conducted union elections for students in the State for the past 30 years after it was banned by the then chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh. Student groups believe that student elections would definitely change the face of politics in the future. Progressive Democratic Student Union (PDSU) representative Avula Ashok said that due to lack of proper representation of students in the Executive Councils, a decisive body in all the varsities, the decisions are being taken were not in favour of students rather in support of managements.

He said, “Once a genuine student body is formed it would fight for the rights of students in all the forums and a democratic atmosphere would prevail in the higher learning centres.” However, he expressed doubts over the compliance of the State government to the directives of UGC for conducting union elections. University of Hyderabad student union leader Benny Vincent said that by virtue union students have been able to solve their issues in a more democratic way.

SFI State secretary M Nageshwar Rao said that union elections at college campuses would pave the way for producing future leaders in a fair manner. He said, “Today’s politics is flooded with the leaders whose background is not academic. Most of them are toddy businessmen or rowdy-sheeters. Elections at the varsity level will see greater participation from youth and also motivate them to part of the mainstream electoral process.”

He opined that leadership developed through academics would serve the nation better, besides working towards student welfare on education campuses. “Supreme Court and Lyngdoh Commission had recommended the holding of student union elections in colleges and we will strive hard to make it a reality,” he said. 

ABVP State secretary J Niranjan welcomed the directive given by UGC and urged the State government to facilitate the union elections as early as possible. In Telangana there are around 10 universities and scores of post graduate and degree colleges. Student leaders elected at degree and PG level would transfer to the universities and can directly enter into the electoral politics.

TSPSC Releases Syllabus

Days after the announcement of first notification for recruitment, Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) released the syllabus scheme for Group examinations on Monday. Syllabus Committee head Prof G Haragopal along with TSPSC chairman G Chakrapani among other members of the commission released the compiled scheme of syllabus. Haragopal on this occasion said more prominence had been given to the history of Telangana and the movement which had made the new State a reality.

He said, “As most of the applicants for TSPSC jobs would be State students, they need to know more about the social fabric, geography and history of the State.” The syllabus scheme of all the four groups (Group I, II, III and IV) has been put on the commission website www.tspsc.gov.in, informed TSPSC chairman Ghanta Chakrapani. The Group I services examination is of total 100 marks, of which major chunk comprises of Telangana State history, geography, economy, movement and State formation.

It comprises of six papers of 150 marks and interview for 100 marks. On the other hand, Group II examination carries 675 marks with three papers of 150 marks each and interview carrying 75 marks. A considerable part of the new syllabus talks about history for this examination too. Group III examination carries 450 and focuses on components of Telangana like the other examinations.

Group IV paper syllabus comprises of general knowledge and secretarial abilities and a total marks of 300. Scheme of examination for gazetted category posts include general studies, subject paper and interview with total 500 marks. Similarly, scheme of examination for non-gazetted category posts are 300 marks examination with two papers of 150 marks each.