The staff members of Maheshwaramma Medical College had stopped taking classes for the past 45 days after their salaries were withheld for five months.

The stand-off between faculty members and the administration of Maheshwaramma Medical College in Telangana’s Patencheru has finally come to an end. For the past 45 days, teaching staff have not been conducting classes as the administration had not paid their salaries for five months. Classes are now expected to resume on Wednesday after protests from students and parents were reported in the mainstream media.

On Saturday, February 23, several students and parents protested against the college management for not having paid the professors and staff members on time, which led to them boycott their teaching duties. Students did not have have classes for a month as a result of the protest. After a board formed by Kalolji Narayan Rao Health University (which the medical college is affiliated to) enquired about the issue on Monday, the faculty agreed to resume classes.

“The college administration did not have the money to pay the teacher's a salary. As a result of this, professors did not conduct classes for the students for the past 45 days. Now the board has said that it will pay the teaching faculty,” said Dr P S Vijayender, chairman of the Telangana Junior Doctors Association (TJUDA). He further added that the staff members have taken a decision to begin working once the administration gives them a minimum of at least three months salaries.

According to sources, the college has been given until March 8 to make all the pending payments to staff members, and classes will commence from Wednesday onwards. The news is a major relief to all the students who were caught in the crossfire between the faculty and administrators.

This story was originally published on The News Minute and is reprinted here with permission. It can be viewed on https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/after-45-day-protest-faculty-salaries-paid-hyderabad-medical-college-97398