KARIMNAGAR: Nothing seems to be working out for Satavahana University in Karimnagar. On Wednesday it came to light that the University Grants Commission (UGC) has rejected proposals to accord 12-B status to the 10-year-old university as it did not fulfill its prescribed requirements. The decision will affect the institution in a big way as it will disqualify it from receiving any financial assistance from the UGC.
It will have to depend entirely on funds from the State government. Express had earlier reported how SU did not have adequate numbers of professors and teaching staff, which seems to have been the main reason behind the latest decision. Express had also reported how, due to the lack of funds, the university could not conduct a single convocation ceremony since its inception in 2008.
What is Section 12-B?
The UGC requires that higher education institutions are accredited under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956 and declared fit under Section 12(B) of the same act. The latter ensures that the institute receives financial assistance in form of grants and one of the main requirements for this is that the university should maintain a specific number of academic staff. Many of the university employees reportedly have not received salaries for a few months.
Headless for three years
To understand how things got so bad, one has to go back at least three years. Ever since 2015, SU has not had a permanent VC. It has had two ‘in-charge’ VCs, the current one being HMDA commissioner T Chiranjeevulu. Chiranjeevulu has not been able to find much time for the varsity due to his job in the big city. The university has been leaderless with administrative responsibilities falling on the University Registrar’s shoulders, who is also set to retire soon.
University Registrar M Komal Reddy said that the university staff was preparing fresh proposals to send to the UGC. Commenting on the issue of academic staff, he said that the administration was making do with hiring on a contractual basis.