Outsourcing jobs at examination branches in state universities is becoming a major problem with it coming to light that outsourced employees have been instrumental in leaking question papers and tampering answer sheets for money. In Osmania University itself, out of 1,100 sanctioned posts, only 600 are regular employees and the rest have been appointed on contract basis through outsourcing.

Even the Board of Intermediate Education and the SSC Board have over 100 employees working on contract basis. The situation is so bad that by paying anything between `5,000 and `20,000, one can get any type of work done with the help of outsourced employees in the examination branches, from leaking question papers to tampering answer sheets and manipulation of marks.

Outsourced employees, who get meagre salaries of `5,000, are often lured with bribes as high as Rs 20,000, depending on the risk. Despite several incidents of outsourced employees being involved in irregularities, the state government still prefers to continue with the contract recruitment system citing “financial constraints”. The recent incident of the B.Com paper leak at OU and the tampering of M.Tech answer sheets in JNTU-Hyderabad are only the tip of the iceberg. Sources say that many such incidents go unreported in universities and the government and university officials remain mute spectators.

Repeated requests of Vice-Chancellors to allot “regular posts” in universities, at least in departments involved in confidential works such as exam duties, are falling on deaf ears. “We have sent proposals for recruiting regular staff in exam branches several times. However, there has been no response from the finance department,” said Prof. D.N. Reddy, V-C, JNTU-Hyderabad. In some cases, the state finance department has been advising the V-Cs to look for “outsourcing employees” even for appointing the controller of examinations, the key official in exam duties, when they approach them with proposals requesting allotment of regular posts.

Source : DC

Summer jobs up for grabs.

HYDERABAD: Nidhi Mathew, a student of Guru Nanak Engineering College, is all set to earn Rs 20,000 per month doing her paid internship at a tech firm in the city this summer. And it is not just she who is making big bucks this April; several college students have opted for lucrative yet interesting summer jobs, breaking away from the usual mould of being super market executives and take-away counter personnel.

Interestingly, after the recession blues that hit the city’s tech and related services market in 2007-08, it is only during this summer that companies have started hiring students for short-term projects in bulk.

Students from both professional and regular degree colleges in the city say that they are getting to work on a gamut of projects related to their field of study this summer. While students from arts and humanities background are working on jobs ranging from content writing to field research, those from engineering and management studies are working on projects that are outsourced by companies.

According to students, the salaries for summer jobs this year range from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 per month on an average.

Colleges said that the most lucrative summer jobs are those offered by tech firms including TCS, Wipro and Oracle, with salaries ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 per month. Even the content development sector, including technical writing and content writing, are paying Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per month to students. While the money might seem good, it is not easy to land a summer job, say students and teachers. Of the 45 students of Srinidhi Institute of Technology who applied for jobs at tech companies, just about 20 got selected. “The selection process is tough just like the selection process for a full-time job,” said a spokesperson of the college.

College managements said that the students have just about 60 per cent chance of getting any summer job they apply for. They said that they have taken an active role in securing summer jobs for their students. “Most students feel that they should not be wasting their summer on aimless fun. Hence we contacted officials from various industries including tech firms to secure them short-term jobs on projects,” said Alphonsa Vattoli, principal, St Francis College. Other colleges from the city like Villa Marie College for Women and St Mary’s College have also helped their students in getting lucrative summer jobs.

Students said that apart from the big money which they offer, summer jobs are meant to help the students choose a career path. Anaswara Reddy, a B Pharm student of St Mary’s College, Yousufguda, who is now working with a pharma company, said that she is planning to go for higher studies in the pharma sector as she finds the work fascinating. Another student, Krithi Asok, is more than happy to be a research assistant in Centre for Economics and Social Sciences for a salary of Rs 10,000. A Master of Social Work (MSW) student from Osmania University, she says that her field work on rural literacy has made her want to do grassroots research in developmental NGOs.

Source : TOI