Visakhapatnam: Salary and pension pending for Andhra University professors and non-teaching staff for the last two months

AU has no role in it and now the ball is in the State Government’s court, says a professor

The nine-decade-old Andhra University, which is the biggest public university in Andhra Pradesh and one among the reputed ones in the country, is in the news for the wrong reasons.

It has not been able to pay salaries to its permanent teaching faculty and non-teaching staff and pensions to the retired teachers and non-teaching staff, for the last two months.

This is probably for the first time that such a thing has happened in the university, since its inception in 1926.

Both the former and the current employees of the university are encountering insurmountable hardships for the last two months.

“Almost all of us have EMIs on various types of loans to be paid and the bankers are harassing us for payment. Not only this, many of us are suffering from chronic and critical illness that requires huge payment for medicines and medical care. So far we are somehow managing with our savings, but it will be difficult from now, if the salaries and pensions are not released immediately,” said a former professor.

The teaching staff has not received salaries of December and January and so is the case with former professors and teachers. The non-teaching staff have however received some part amont.

In AU there are around 4,500 to 5,000 former employees comprising both teaching and non-teaching staff. Coming to the serving staff, there are 234 permanent teaching staff and around 1,500 non-teaching staff.