Telangana state varsities-Give a humane touch to contract faculty regularisation
In Short
Successive governments have acknowledged concerns surrounding contract faculty, but teachers continue to seek a durable solution.
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Telangana state varsities-Give a humane touch to contract faculty regularisation
Regularising contract faculty, ensuring fair remuneration and strengthening research investment are vital to restoring teachers’ dignity and improving the quality of public higher education.
Telangana’s state universities face several challenges that extend beyond faculty vacancies and administrative issues. It concerns the future of public education, employment justice, teaching and research quality and the dignity of teachers who have devoted much of their professional lives to universities without adequate job security.
Contractual faculty
Many contract faculty members, including part-timers, possess the required academic qualifications, have published research papers, guided students and accumulated more than a decade of teaching experience. Yet they continue to face uncertainty about their employment, salaries, career progression and future.
The University Teachers Association Contract (UTAC-TS) has recently requested the Government regularisation of contract faculty in the state’s 12 universities; implementation of University Grants Commission (UGC) pay scales and protection against displacement. According to the association, approximately 1,200 teachers are affected. It has also urged the government to consider converting eligible self-financing courses into regular university programmes. The part-time teachers are also requesting fair pay and preference in the interviews for the regular posts. These requests reflect a larger question: can public universities achieve academic excellence while keeping experienced teachers in prolonged employment insecurity and pay disparities?
The human cost
The plight of contract faculty cannot be understood merely through appointment orders, salary bills and service regulations. Behind every contract teacher is an individual with family responsibilities, financial commitments, professional aspirations and expectations of a dignified retirement. For a young academic, a temporary appointment may be an entry point into the profession. But when contractual employment continues for ten, fifteen or even more years, temporary status can become a long-term condition of life.
Teachers who joined universities with the expectation of building academic careers may find themselves approaching middle age without the security normally associated with sustained professional service. Their responsibilities do not remain temporary. Children grow up, education expenses increase, parents require care, housing loans need repayment, and household costs rise. Teachers must meet these obligations regardless of whether their contracts will be renewed or their salaries revised. Unlike permanent employees, they may have limited access to predictable career progression and employment-related benefits, depending on their appointment terms.
Psychological pressure
The uncertainty can have psychological costs. Repeated renewals, the fear of losing employment, anxiety about future recruitment and the possibility of displacement can undermine confidence and peace of mind. Teachers may find it difficult to plan their children’s education, purchase a home, manage long-term savings or prepare for retirement. Such pressures should not automatically be equated with a clinical mental-health condition, but their potential emotional consequences deserve serious institutional attention.
Social dignity
In a society where secure employment is often regarded as a measure of professional success, teachers who have served universities for years may feel embarrassed when asked about their permanent employment. They may perform responsibilities comparable to those of regular faculty while being treated as less secure members of the academic community. This can create a painful contradiction. They are expected to educate students, produce research and uphold institutional standards, yet their own professional future remains uncertain.
Qualifications, experience and pay inequality
Contract faculty differ in qualifications, experience, workloads and appointment procedures. However, teachers with prescribed qualifications, appropriate selection and substantial teaching experience deserve a transparent assessment of their contributions. Many perform duties comparable to regular faculty, including teaching, evaluation, research publications and student supervision, despite limited professional benefits.
The government must balance teachers’ legitimate claims with UGC standards and ensure that contract appointments do not become a permanent substitute for regular faculty recruitment. However, merit should not be sacrificed in this process
Job insecurity
Job insecurity affects not only teachers but also teaching continuity, research and student mentoring. Frequent contract renewals may discourage long-term research, a concern that should be assessed through faculty turnover, publications, research funding and student outcomes. The government should strengthen research infrastructure, grants, laboratories, academic databases and professional development. Research quality must be judged by originality and impact. Self-financing courses running for five years or more should be reviewed for student demand, academic continuity, financial viability and regulatory compliance. The conversion into regular programmes should be attempted based on successful courses.
Restoring dignity
The government should recognise that contract faculty are not merely a recurring expenditure item. They are teachers who have invested years of their lives in educating students and sustaining public institutions. Their age, family obligations, years of service and prospects for retirement should be considered with sensitivity, alongside qualifications, merit and other requirements. Teachers should not have to depend on repeated representations and uncertain assurances to understand their professional future. Ultimately, the issue is not a choice between protecting existing teachers and preserving merit. A well-designed policy can respect both.
Senior faculty and part-timers
Senior faculty in the universities are burdened by the dual responsibilities of teaching and administrative work, leaving them with limited time for research, student mentoring and academic development. At the same time, part-time and contract faculty face problems of low remuneration, job insecurity and limited career progression, despite their contribution to maintaining teaching activities. These issues should receive due consideration during interviews for regular faculty recruitment, with a fair assessment of candidates’ teaching experience, research contributions and institutional service, including the work of part-time faculty. A transparent and inclusive recruitment policy, accompanied by adequate staffing and a rational distribution of administrative responsibilities, is essential to improve faculty morale and restore academic quality in state universities.
Government assurances
Successive governments have acknowledged concerns surrounding contract faculty, but teachers continue to seek a durable solution. UTAC-TS has referred to an assurance reportedly given by the Chief Minister in April and has called for regularisation, UGC pay scales and employment security. The association also wants eligible contract faculty considered before fresh direct recruitment proceeds. The present government has an opportunity to address the issue through a transparent framework. It should acquire the number of contract teachers in each university, their years of service, qualifications, appointment procedures, salary structures and the status of the posts. This would replace uncertainty with verifiable information and allow the government to distinguish between different categories of appointments. The appointments must respect applicable recruitment rules and equality of opportunity. This does not justify keeping experienced teachers on contracts indefinitely. It means the government must devise a defensible solution and not delay regularisation.
Higher Education Council officials and the individual universities should prioritise this and come to the rescue of contract teachers.
A two-track approach
Review the claims of serving contract faculty and part-timers while simultaneously preparing a university-wise recruitment calendar for remaining vacancies. This would protect experienced teachers without indefinitely postponing recruitment. The government should also review salaries and working conditions. Where equal remuneration is legally justified, the applicable principles should be implemented. Where differences remain permissible, the reasons should be explained transparently.
Conclusion
A university cannot credibly teach dignity, equality and social justice while leaving experienced teachers in prolonged uncertainty about their own lives. Providing a fair and lawful resolution for contract/ part-time faculty would recognise their contribution, strengthen institutional morale and help rebuild confidence in public higher education. The measure of reform should be not merely the number of posts filled, but whether universities become places where teachers can work with dignity, students can learn with confidence, and research can flourish with continuity and quality.
(Prof Ramakrishna Gollagari is Professor of Economics (Retd.), Osmania University and visiting Professor, CESS, Hyderabad; Prof M Ramulu is Head of Departmentof Economics University College of Arts and Social Sciences, OU)
