Hyderabad: Denying allegations of any wrongdoing on its part, the management of Muffakham Jah College of Engineering and Technology (MJCET) today said that it has an “unblemished record of paying salaries to the Staff on the last working day of the Month for the last forty years.
The statement from the MJCET administration was in response to a letter written by the teaching and non-teaching staff of the institution to the state government, which said that the Muffakham Jah management has not been paying 100% salaries since May 1, 2020.
The allegation that we received “Tuition Fee Reimbursement from Government from time to time is a brazen lie – We are yet to receive dues from the State Government even for the academic year 2019-20. The total Fee Due from both the State Government and Students stands at Rs.25,19,00,000/- for Engineering College alone. We absolutely receive no Tuition Fee Reimbursement from the Central Government, as alleged,” said the MJCET management.
Rejecting the allegations of payment issues and other irregularities that the staff mentioned in their letter, the MJCET management also said, “There is absolutely no violation in the salaries paid to our Staff. We allow six weeks vacation to our Staff as stipulated by Osmania University. We entirely follow the Service Rules, Leave Rules and Conduct Rules as stipulated by Osmania University.”
In their letter, send to chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), vice-chancellor of Osmania University and other officials, the Muffakham Jah College employees alleged that they were threatened with terminations when they asked the institution management for their full salaries.
The letter from the non-teaching and teaching staff members added that they do not have sufficient money left to manage their household expenses, which has caused severe financial distress and mental trauma to them and their families. It added that college employees have also been forced to take loans due to the circumstances. The Muffakham Jah College, situated at Banjara Hills, is run by the Sultan Ul-uloom Educational Society.
However, denying all the allegations, the MJCET administration stated that it has not terminated the services of “even a single staff member due to Covid-19”, and that it has given free COVID-19 vaccination to all of its staff members. It added that the institute’s tuition fee was increased as per the the Telangana Admission & Fee Regulatory Committee in 2019, and “based exactly on the salaries paid to the Staff” as well.
“The allegation that the Staff being threatened with termination, if they demand anything is also a blatant lie. I state with all the authority at my disposal that no member of the teaching faculty of the Engineering College ever met me in the last 16 months, with any demand, what so ever,” the Muffakham Jah College management further stated, and added that no staff or their dependants died in the last 16 months due to paucity of funds.
It claimed that the institution is compelled to raise loans to meet its “commitment to pay over Rupees 1.6 crores monthly towards the salaries of the Staff of MJCET on the last working day of every month…”. About the issue of MJCET allegedly not having a new principal, the management said, “It is simply not the concern of the Staff, who we appoint as the “Principal” or as the “Director”.”
The Muffakham Jah College staff members in their letter that they have not been paid their 100% of full salaries since May 1 2020, which compounds to about five months loss in salaries. They claimed that this was done despite instructions from the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and the Telangana government to not deduct salaries.
Aside from that issues, the Muffakham Jah College employees in their letter to the authorities also claimed that they have not received any increments since 2019. The letter, dated June 8, was sent to KCR, Vice-chancellor and (separately) the Director, Minorities Cell, of Osmania University and to Prof. Papi Reddy, Chairman, Telangana State Council of Higher Education.