BRAOU staff in State left in limbo amid bureaucratic deadlock

More than a decade after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, employees and staff of Dr BR Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU) in the erstwhile State are still paying the price, quite literally.

- K Kalyan Krishna Kumar @Vijayawada

For the last seven months, around 500 teaching and non-teaching staff working in the study centres of BRAOU across the State have not received salaries, plunging many into financial distress.

The deadlock stems from a bureaucratic vacuum following the cessation of BRAOU services in Andhra Pradesh earlier this year. While the university, headquartered in Hyderabad, continued to serve the State for a decade post-bifurcation, its recent withdrawal has left a major gap in administrative clarity, especially regarding salary bill approvals.

"We have been working without pay since January. There is no clarity on who is responsible now. Telangana says the service ended, and AP hasn't yet set up an alternate university. How long can we survive like this?" asked a senior academic coordinator.