UP Congress chief Raj Babbar sends resignation to Rahul Gandhi
Lucknow: In the wake of the Congress' dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, state party president Raj Babbar has sent his resignation to Rahul Gandhi.
Congress managed to win only the Rae Bareli constituency of Sonia Gandhi in the politically crucial state, which sends 80 MPs to the Lower House.
UP chief Babbar has sent his resignation to Congress president Rahul Gandhi taking responsibility for the party's showing in the just-concluded polls, a spokesman of the party's state unit Rajiv Bakshi told PTI here.
Babbar, who contested from Fatehpur Sikri, lost by a margin of over 4,95,065 votes to BJP's Rajkymar Chahar.
In a tweet in Hindi, Babbar on Friday said," The results are depressing for the Uttar Pradesh Congress. I find myself guilty of not discharging my responsibility in a proper manner."
"I will meet the leadership and apprise it of my views. Congratulations to the winners for winning the confidence of the people," he said.
The BJP and its ally Apna Dal(S) have won 64 seats, while the SP-BSP alliance won 15 seats between them.
Of the alliance partners, the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was the biggest gainer with 10 seats. Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party won five seats and the smallest of the partners Rashtriya Lok Dal couldn't open its account in the polls.
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Hyderabad retired professor in coma left without pension; family struggles to pay Rs 25 lakh bills
Hyderabad: A 64-year-old retired professor from Osmania University, Mohammad Ansari, is battling for life in a coma while his family struggles to meet mounting medical expenses due to an unresolved pension dispute.
According to The Times of India, Prof. Ansari, a former linguistics teacher, fell critically ill about 10 days ago due to kidney and lung complications and slipped into a coma.
His family has already spent nearly Rs 25 lakh on treatment, with daily hospital expenses ranging between Rs 30,000 and 40,000.
"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 Osmania University professor. He said that his brother had been running from pillar to post since 1996 to clear the anomalies in his service, but failed in his efforts.
Though he began working with the university in 1997 as part-time faculty and later became regular staff, the university reportedly agreed to consider his pension eligibility only from 2003, which he contested.
The family claims that despite court directions and intervention by an Assembly committee, the university did not recognise his service from 1996 for pension benefits.
"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.
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.
Students and well-wishers have begun crowdfunding to support his treatment. Members of the Osmania University Students’ Joint Action (JAC) Committee urged authorities to intervene and release his pending benefits or arrange financial assistance.
The issue was also raised in the Assembly by CPI MLA Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao.
However, university officials maintain that pension from 1996 cannot be granted. Registrar G. Naresh Reddy said, "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."
He said 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.
