The Orissa High Court on Monday issued notices to the state’s higher education department seeking replies on the large number of vacancies in the posts of faculty, including that of professors in public universities.
Around 67 per cent of sanctioned faculty posts are lying vacant in 15 public universities, while recruitment to fill up the vacant posts was last conducted three years back.
Acting on a public interest litigation filed by rights activist Prabir Kumar Das, the High Court sought a reply from the government by affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing on 10 November.
As many as 15 public universities, governed under the Odisha University Act, 1989, are facing an acute shortage of faculty. As a result, academic activities are being adversely affected. In public universities, no faculty recruitment has been conducted since 2022, thereby creating large vacancies affecting teaching and research activities, the petition maintained.
The public universities facing such a crisis are Utkal University (Bhubaneswar), Ravenshaw University (Cuttack), MSCB University (Baripada), Berhampur University (Berhampur), Gangadhar Meher University (Sambalpur), RD Women’s University (Bhubaneswar), and nine other public universities governed under the Odisha University Act, 1989.
Out of 2,006 faculty posts, 1,332 are lying vacant. Out of 265 sanctioned posts of professors, 242 are lying vacant. Similarly, 436 out of 578 sanctioned posts of associate professors are vacant. Likewise, out of 1,143 sanctioned posts of assistant professors, 654 posts lie vacant. Ironically, all sanctioned posts of assistant professors at Khallikote College, Vikram Dev University, and Madhusudan Law University are lying vacant.