BHUBANESWAR : The Higher Education department has decided to rationalise non-teaching positions and abolish promotional prospects of such staff in the Utkal University.
The department issued a notification to this effect two days back which has come at a time when Utkal University is going through a crisis of non-teaching staff.
The decisions have not gone down well with those holding the positions. They have sought the vice-chancellor’s intervention in revoking the decision and instead, providing them with promotional prospects.
Earlier, the university had sanctioned 55 junior assistants, 95 senior assistants and 50 section officers posts. Now, the Higher Education department has decided to reduce the count to 50 junior assistants, 27 senior assistants and 15 section officers.
Members of Utkal university non-teaching employees’ association in a petition to the vice chancellor on Tuesday said the drastic reduction of posts will severely impact the overall functioning of the university.
As of now, each of the non-teaching staff is handling two to three sections of administrative and academic work and with reduction of posts, the remaining staff will be overburdened.
This will also delay academic progression of students who would face an increased waiting time for admission processing and certificate issuance, the association members said. The petition stated that the step will also affect the career progression of the long-serving non-teaching employees, who are the backbone of the university’s administrative machinery, and also the effective implementation of NEP.