BHUBANESWAR : The Supreme Court has lifted the interim stay imposed on Odisha University (Amendment) Act, 2020, which had stalled the appointment of vice-chancellors and faculty members in the state’s public universities for the last five years.
This was informed by Higher Education minister Suryabanshi Suraj on Thursday. With the order which was passed on Wednesday, the appointments can now be made in accordance with the new Odisha University (Amendment) Act, 2024, the minister said.
“The order confirms that the previous government’s decision to amend the Odisha University Act was flawed and violated the University Grants Commission’s guidelines. With this, the appointments will resume under the framework of the Odisha University (Amendment) Act, 2024,” he added.
The minister further said that expeditious steps would be taken to fill the vacant posts of vice-chancellors and faculty members. “Priority will now be placed on ensuring university autonomy, preserving academic culture and accelerating the recruitment process,” he added.
As of now, of the 2,003 sanctioned strength of professor, associate professor and assistant professor in 17 public universities of the state, 1,307 positions are vacant. Only 696 faculty members are in position while the rest are being handled by guest faculty members.
On the other hand, tenure of three vice-chancellors has been extended by another six months. The vice-chancellors are Sabita Acharya of Utkal University, Aparajita Chowdhury of Ramadevi Women’s University and N Nagaraju of Gangadhar Meher University. Their tenure was due to end in the last week of November last year.
In April this year, the Odisha Universities (Amendment) Bill 2024 was passed by the Assembly after a marathon discussion of more than 12 hours. “The new amendment law has been framed in alignment with UGC guidelines to strengthen the higher education system in Odisha. This marks a new dawn in Odisha’s higher education landscape,” the minister said.