Lokesh urges UGC/Centre to stall YSRCP job melas

AMARAVATI: TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh on Friday urged the Union Ministry of Education and the UGC to prevent the abuse of State universities for conducting politically motivated events and job melas in Andhra Pradesh.

Lokesh stressed the need for stringent action to restrain the ruling YSRCP from misuing the public universities to provide jobs its party activists in private companies.

Seeking urgent action, Nara Lokesh wrote separate letters to the Chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC) as well as to the Secretary, department of higher education, Ministry of Education, Delhi. He pointed out that the YSRCP job melas in educational institutions were in total violation of the constitutional principles and established ethical norms.
Lokesh said on April 1 this year, the then Rajya Sabha MP Vijaya Sai Reddy announced that their YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) will be conducting job melas in three universities. They were the Andhra University (Visakhapatnam), Sri Venkateswara University (Tirupati), and Acharya Nagarjuna University (Guntur District).

The TDP MLC pointed out that Vijaya Sai had not hesitated to say that these job melas were their party activity being held under the orders of AP Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, who was also President of YSR Congress. The MP had also clarified that these job melas are intended to benefit YSRCP cadre and those who worked for its win in the 2019 elections.

Lokesh said Vijaya Sai had also promised to provide 15,000-25,000 jobs at private companies for candidates with qualification of 10th class and above. He had also launched a website – ysrcpjobmela.com – towards this purpose. “This violates multiple constitutional principles. One, government institutions are being utilised for a YSRCP party activity. Two, by limiting the opportunities to only YSRCP party cadre and followers, the government is clearly neglecting lakhs of other graduates who remain unemployed.”

Nara Lokesh recalled that as per the report of Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the unemployment rate among graduates in AP has risen to 35% now. This was alarmingly the highest in South India and 4th highest in India. In this situation, it is shocking that the ruling YSRCP is conducting a job mela meant only its own cadre and followers.

Lokesh termed it as unpardonable that the YSRCP was giving a singal that party loyalty would be the foremost quality needed but not the right education and college background. It would push our educational institutions into unwanted party politics. It is shocking that the ruling party of AP is resorting to such practices through its job melas, with active backing of the Chief Minister.

The TDP MLC urged for prompt action on this issue and immediate corrective action from the UGC failing which the YSRCP job melas would set a bad precedent for other States as well. There should be no erosion of ethics and values in educational institutes.