Recruitment freeze may melt OU reputation

Hyderabad: With increasing number of Osmania University (OU) faculty members retiring every year and total in action on the part of the concerned authorities to recruit required regular staff, is pushing the academics of the university in to an abyss.

The accolades which the university has bagged so far are at stake unless OU authorities and the government take a positive approach towards the recruitment of regular faculty. With a large number of senior faculty members retiring from service every year, the prestigious i.e.

National Assessment and Accreditation Council grade, University with Potential for Excellence (UPE) status, Central schemes, national and international grants may be lost. Currently OU has UPE status and 22 departments have Central sponsored schemes like Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS), Departmental Research Support (DRS), Special Assistance Programme (SAP), Department of Science and Technology etc.

With most of the departments functioning either with a no senior professors or with single professors against the mandate of six faculty members, the departments are likely to lose these schemes. A point in case - the CAS scheme in the linguistics department in the University College of Arts and Social Sciences was scrapped during the department review as it did not meet the prerequisite of six faculty members.

So is the case with the psychology department and schemes in several other departments too are in the dark.Out of the 1088 sanctioned posts in the university, 653 faculty members are currently working and nearly 50 per cent of the regular faculty positions are vacant.

With no sign of regular recruitment for filling up all sanctioned posts and to fill the gap of vacant positions, the university appointed 450 academic consultants to handle teaching duties which clears states the crisis of regular appointments. “There will be an impact on the funding pattern to the departments.

With the retirement of a professor in microbiology department, it is left with no professor. Similar is the case with geophysics department,” said Prof. Sudershan, Principal, University College of Sciences. Admitting the issue, the university registrar Prof E Suresh Kumar stated that the university had asked the UGC to consider emeritus professors in the departments.

“Even if the commission considers, it will not be a substitute to regular recruitment. Regular recruitment has to take place,” Suresh added. Not just these schemes are at stake; the prestigious NAAC grade is due for review in December. Availability of the senior professors, publications in last four years are among a few things that are taken as criteria for giving NAAC grade.

As nearly 50 per cent of the positions are vacant, it has become an uphill task for the university officials to retain the status. Adding to woes of the officials, the HRD ministry has made it clear that it would not entertain universities for Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) funds without NAAC grade.

In 2011 with NAAC ‘A’ grade in place, the university was accorded with UPE status. “The University Grants Commission constituted a committee to review the status. Based on the NAAC grading, the commission gives UPE status. When there is no grading, the UPE status to the university is questionable,” said Dr Laxmi, Principal, University College of Arts and Social Sciences.

“NAAC is must for receiving grant from any agency. This year, as the university has UPE status, RUSA funds are given to the university. Take the case of Kakatiya University, it did not receive RUSA grant as it did not posses UPE and NAAC grading. If OU does not get NAAC A grade then funding will be a problem,” said Prof Battu Satyanarayana, Chairman, Telangana State Federation of Universities Teachers Association

Under UPE status, the university received Rs 50 crore grant from the UGC for various developmental activities. Rs 35 crore was used for the development activities and Rs 15 crore was used for giving scholarships worth Rs 8000 to 800 scholars . If the UPE status is removed, there will be no scholarships to students, lamented Laxmi

The university professors pointed out that in order to arrest the situation immediately, the government has to enhance the retirement age of the professors. Several states have already increased the retirement age of the professors to 65. By doing so, senior faculty members can be retained and it will be helpful during the NAAC inspection,” Laxmi added.

By:Yuvraj Akula