Staff crunch hits Jeypore college, 45 posts vacant

Koraput: The Vikram Deb Autonomous College at Jeypore in Koraput district is facing a severe staff crunch. While the commerce department is functioning only with contractual teachers in the absence of a single lecturer, the situation in departments like economics, history, sociology, physics and mathematics are not much different with only one lecturer for each department.
The college has as many as 45 lecturers' posts lying vacant, putting a huge stress on academic activities. More than 3,000 students in graduation and post graduation courses are suffering because of this.
Adding salt to injury is the case of two lecturers, one each from botany and political science departments, who have been recently transferred to Phulbani and Malkangiri districts, respectively.
Angry at the acute shortage of lecturers in the college, students had recently locked the college gate and demonstrated against the transfer of the two lecturers.
"While already there is a dearth of lecturers in the college, the state government has transferred two more lecturers from here which is not acceptable. We demand immediate cancellation of the transfer order of the two lecturers and posting of adequate number of lecturers at the college," Narahari Harijan, the college student's union president, said.
Established in 1947 and accorded autonomous status in 2004, this is the second largest college in southern Odisha with post graduation (PG) courses in economics, political science, history, commerce and chemistry. Sources said there are only 10 lecturers, including the principal, for degree and post graduation classes against a sanctioned strength of 55.
Officials said the government has turned a deaf ear to repeated requests for appointment of sufficient lecturers in the college.
"We have written to the government several times but no step was taken to resolve the crisis. We are managing departments with guest faculties but that's not the solution. At least 15 guest faculties have been appointed," said C Savitri, principal of the college.
According to the principal, other non-teaching activities like preparing for exams and admission process is getting affected due to the non-availability of lecturers.
"We can't engage the guest faculties in other activities as their duty is restricted to teaching. Being an autonomous college we have to prepare questions for examination of our own and we are facing problem dealing with it," she said.
Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said acute shortage of teaching staff is one of the reasons the college is losing its credibility.
"The state government is deliberately neglecting the higher education system in this tribal-dominated district. If the vacant lecturers' posts are not fulfilled at the earliest then the higher education secretary will be ghearoed at the secretariat in Bhubaneswar," he warned.
"I have also urged the principal not to relieve the transferred lectures," the MLA added.