Kamal Ghorui
HYDERABAD: Prof Mohammad Ansari spent almost his entire adult life at the Osmania University (OU) campus, first as a student and then as faculty. He is now struggling to stay alive because of an unresolved technical issue that has left him without a pension.The 64-year-old retired linguistics teacher fell seriously ill about 10 days ago and slipped into a coma due to kidney and lungs-related issues. However, without the pension, his family does not have financial resources for his treatment. His brother and other family members will soon be shifting him to a rehabilitation centre.“We have spent about Rs 25 lakh so far. The hospital is charging between Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000 daily. We don’t have any money left. We can only afford a rehabilitation centre,” said Fayyaz Ansari, brother of the retired OU prof. He added that his brother had been running from pillar to post since 1996 to clear the anomalies in his service, but failed in his efforts.Prof Ansari started work at OU in 1997, first as part-time faculty and then as regular staff. His family alleges that despite directions from the Andhra Pradesh HC in 1998 asking the state higher education department to take a decision on his appointment, and intervention by an Assembly committee that later led to issuance of appointment orders, the university did not agree to treat his service as counting from 1996 for pension purposes. According to the family, the university was willing to consider pension eligibility only from 2003, which prof Ansari disputed.“Despite selection, he was not given joining orders. He was forced to work as a part-time faculty. In 2003, after approaching the minority commission, the HC and the assembly, he finally got orders to join as full-time faculty,” Fayyaz said, adding that his family is helpless now as his brother is fighting for his life in hospital.Incidentally, even the LIC-linked pension, which was offered to those not eligible under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), was denied to him despite premiums being deducted for close to 15 years on the grounds that he already has OPS. The total amount paid towards the pension was returned in 2018.“Our professor is being denied what’s rightfully his. If he is not eligible for OPS, why did they deny his LIC-linked pension? Even his provident fund and other benefits are stuck as the professor wanted them to be paid since 1996 and the varsity was willing to pay only from 2003,” Mohammed Younus Parveez, a student from OU, said, adding that there are several high court orders which clearly state that the notification date will be considered while deciding the service, but not the joining date.Students, on their part, even started crowdfunding to help Ansari. Members of the OU Students’ Joint Action Committee (JAC) said the govt must resolve this issue and come to the aid of the professor. They said that if they cannot release retirement benefits immediately, the OU administration can ensure that everyone contributes one day’s salary towards his treatment.Prof Ansari’s condition was also highlighted by CPI MLA Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao in the assembly recently.Registrar of the varsity, G Naresh Reddy, said that there is nothing they could do as prof Ansari is demanding pension from 1996. “He was not on the varsity rolls then. How can it be considered? In fact, this issue was placed before the executive council and the govt multiple times and it was rejected,” said Reddy.He added that when it comes to the LIC-linked pension, it is the govt that has kept it in abeyance and that, along with Ansari, 10 other faculty members, who joined between 2001 and 2004, were waiting for it to be resolved.
