Schedule for recruitment of school teachers will be announced soon: Lokesh

Vijayawada: HRD minister Nara Lokesh told the assembly on Thursday that the state govt will shortly announce the schedule for recruitment of school teachers as part of the job calendar. He asserted that the govt is committed to maintaining student-teacher ratio across the state to provide the best academic infrastructure for children studying in govt schools."The govt is taking steps to complete the Kurnool cluster university in the coming academic year. Rs 139 crore was sanctioned for the university, of which Rs 55 crore was already spent under the RUSA scheme. An additional Rs 74.5 crore is required to complete the pending works, and necessary measures are being initiated to ensure completion within the next academic year," he said.Lokesh said the govt's vision is to promote development through a cluster-based approach, ensuring vertical and horizontal integration while creating the required ecosystem for growth. "After the coalition govt assumed office, Kurnool parliament constituency is witnessing large-scale industrial investments. In this context, the cluster university is being strengthened with a focus on specialisation to meet emerging industry needs," he added.The state govt will take up the issue of salary enhancement for teachers, DTP operators, and other staff working under the Samagra Shiksha project with the Centre in the upcoming Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting, he informed the House, while adding that the salaries paid to teachers and DTP operators under Samagra Shiksha in AP are higher compared to southern states such as Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. He pointed out that while salaries were earlier paid once in three months, the NDA govt streamlined the system and is disbursing salaries on the first of every month.Explaining that Samagra Shiksha is a centrally sponsored scheme under which 60 percent is borne by the central govt and 40 percent of funds by the state govt, he said any decision regarding salary revision requires the approval of the Centre. The minister further assured that the govt would sanction 100 percent of the required seasonal hostels in the district. He said he personally visited Alur, Adoni, and Mantralayam during his Yuvagalam padayatra and witnessed the backwardness of the region while observing a significant disparity between Nandyal and Kurnool parliamentary constituencies."The govt approved additional incentives for industries coming up in Kurnool parliamentary constituency at the recent SIPB meeting. We are working with the objective of attracting large-scale investments to the region and generating employment opportunities," he said.Earlier, Panyam MLA Gauru Charitha Reddy said chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had brought Silver Jubilee College, KVR Women's Degree College, and Govt Degree College under one umbrella to establish the cluster university after bifurcation of the state.