BHUBANESWAR: Over 62 per cent of teaching posts in State-run universities in Odisha are lying vacant.
As per statistics of Higher Education department, a staggering 62.11 per cent of teaching posts including that of professors and associate professors are lying vacant in 11 State-run universities. Of the sanctioned strength of 1,662 professors, associate professors and assistant professors, a whopping 1,033 posts are lying vacant.
No teaching staff have yet been posted at the newly-established Kalahandi University and Rajendra University, Balangir. All 112 teaching posts in Kalahandi University and 126 in Rajendra University are yet to be filled. Rama Devi Women’s University in the State capital comes second in terms of vacancies in academic posts. A whopping 73.91 per cent seats in the university are lying vacant. While the government has sanctioned 138 teaching posts for the varsity, 102 are yet to be filled.
Similar is the plight of Ravenshaw University, Cuttack where 72 per cent of the teaching positions are vacant. Of 267 posts of professors, associate professors and assistant professors in the university, 193 are vacant. The university has only four professors against the sanctioned strength of 29. In Utkal University, 49 per cent of the teaching posts are vacant. As per the Higher Education department, 126 out of 257 posts in the university are lying vacant.
Of the 47 professor posts sanctioned for the university, the oldest in the State, only 12 have been filled while the remaining 35 are vacant. Similarly, 44 out of 76 associate professor and 47 out of 134 assistant professor posts in the University are vacant. Delay in recruitment to academic posts in the Higher Education department has also led to faculty crunch in six other universities.
The vacancy of professors, associate professors and assistant professors against the total sanctioned strength is 65.21 per cent in Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanj Deo University, 43 per cent in Sambalpur University, 48.97 per cent in Berhampur University, 71 per cent in Sri Jagannath Sanskrit University, Puri, 47.22 per cent in Gangadhar Meher University, Sambalpur. At 35.89 per cent, Fakir Mohan University, Balasore has the lowest vacancy of teaching posts.
While the State is focusing on building infrastructure for higher educational institutions through different initiatives, large-scale vacancies in universities have raised apprehensions about the quality of higher education in Odisha. An official said steps are being taken to fill up the vacant posts as soon as possible.