Single teachers run PG departments in Kalahandi varsity

Kalahandi University is about to complete two years of its establishment, yet its post-graduate departments are being run by a single teacher each.

BHAWANIPATNA: Kalahandi University is about to complete two years of its establishment, yet its post-graduate departments are being run by a single teacher each. Postgraduate courses are being offered in 16 subjects with each department having a sanctioned strength of one professor, two associate professors and four assistant professors.

However, against a total requirement of 112 teaching faculty, 95 (16 professors, 30 associate professors and 49 assistant professors) are lying vacant.In 2019, the State government had upgraded Bhawanipatna Government Autonomous College to Kalahandi Unitary University. About a year ago, in August 2021, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced University Grants Commission recognition to the university under Section 2(F) of UGC Act, 1956.

The university has around 500 post-graduate students. In absence of professors, junior lecturers and readers of the degree colleges affiliated to the university are stepping up as guest faculty. With 49 degree colleges, five nursing colleges and one physiotherapy college of Kalahandi and Nuapada districts affiliated to the University, the junior lecturers of these colleges besides guest faculty manage all the PG classes. Recruitment of faculty members, sources added, has been held up due to litigation in various courts challenging the Odisha University Act of 2020..

Similarly, there is also an acute shortage of non-teaching staff in the University. For instance, of four posts of laboratory assistants, three are vacant and out of 27 posts of laboratory attendants, 24 are yet to be filled up. There is no head clerk, junior assistant, cashier and PET in the university. There are no librarians either.

Unfortunately, the non-teaching staff structure is yet to be finalised by State Government and staff selection board has not conducted recruitment to fill up vacancies.Vice Chancellor Sanjaya Satpathy said the University is getting teaching faculty in phases and soon all positions will be filled. “We are conducting academic works with the help of guest faculty effectively. There has been no compromise on quality of teaching,” he asserted.