HYDERABAD: Veterinarians holding PhD and post-graduate degrees and belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) communities in the two Telugu states are an unhappy lot. Reason: the way backlog vacant faculty positions have been divided between the newly formed PVNR Telangana State Veterinary University (PVNRTSVU) and Sri Venkateshwara Veterinary University (SVVU) at Tirupati in AP, post bifurcation. SVVU is a Schedule-IX institution under the AP Reorganisation Act.
Veterinarians in Telangana as well as AP contest that a majority of 106 Associate Professor and 94 Assistant Professor backlog vacant posts, all of which belong to SC, ST and OBC and Open Category (Women) in PVNRTSVU and SVVU will continue to remain vacant for several years due to lack of availability of eligible candidates in the state, the way they have been divided between the two universities.
For example, of the 200 vacant positions in the two States, 81 are allocated to Telangana and almost 55 of these are expected to remain vacant even after recruitment.
U-turn by administration of both universities
Division of vacant backlog faculty positions between both veterinary universities was first done in July last year when officials from both universities met at SVVU, Tirupati. This was done based on calculations of vacant positions as per reservation roster and the availability of candidates from all categories in each state. However, officials from both universities met again in December and decided fate of some of the backlog vacant positions based on “lottery”.
Posts vacant for 10-20 yrs
Many of these ‘backlog’ vacant positions reserved for SC, ST and OBC communities have remained vacant for years together, some even for more than 10-20 years, when veterinary science was a department in Acharya NG Ranga Agriculture University. In SVVU, some faculty members submitted representation on the issue.