Bhubaneswar: With nearly 70% of sanctioned teaching posts lying vacant in Odisha’s public universities, Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati on Saturday asked their vice-chancellors to initiate the recruitment process for vacant teaching posts by the first week of November and complete it by the end of the month.
Kambhampati, who is the Chancellor of universities, was speaking at a meeting on the ongoing recruitment of teaching faculty in state public universities.
Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj, Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Higher Education Department Arabinda Agrawal, vice-chancellors and registrars of state public universities, senior department officials and senior officials from Lok Bhavan attended the meeting.
Last week, the higher education minister had informed the Assembly that as of August 31, around 1,450 teaching posts in public universities were vacant against a sanctioned strength of 2,086.
According to the minister, Utkal University reported the highest overall number of vacancies, followed by Berhampur University and Ravenshaw University.
Taking up the matter at the meeting, the Governor said filling vacant teaching posts was the next major challenge after the appointment of vice-chancellors in state universities.
Recalling that vice-chancellors of 14 universities were appointed on a single day after he assumed office as Governor, Kambhampati said clear timelines should now be set for completing the faculty recruitment process.
“Merit should be the priority in the appointment of teaching faculty. Quality and merit cannot be compromised,” he said, stressing the need to recruit the best available faculty.
The Governor also suggested that all eligible applicants be called for interviews instead of extensive shortlisting and scrutiny at the initial stage. Such a process, he said, would ensure that no eligible candidate felt excluded while giving interview panels a wider pool of candidates to choose from.
Kambhampati also sought details from universities pursuing accreditation and suggested a common tenure for vice-chancellors across state public universities. “There are some universities where the vice-chancellor has a three-year tenure and some have four years. There should be a common tenure,” he said.
The higher education minister endorsed the Governor’s suggestions and asked vice-chancellors to set timelines for completing the recruitment process.