Gangadhar Meher University students send mass SMSes to higher education minister Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi

SAMBALPUR: Incensed by the scarcity of teachers, students of Gangadhar Meher University (GMU) sent text messages to higher education minister Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi's phone on Thursday, demanding that vacant teaching posts be filled up.
"The students started sending the messages at 12 noon. The drive to send SMSes to the minister will continue till 5 PM on Friday. At least 4,000 students will participate," said Rupesh Sahu, president of the students' union of GMU.
Representatives of the student union stood at the gate of the university and urged students to send a text message to Panigrahi.A banner mentioning the mobile number of the minister and the message to be sent was also displayed at the entrance of the institution, which was upgraded to a university in May, 2015. At present, the institution has 59 teachers, including 13 ad hoc teachers, out of the sanctioned strength of 119. Four more teachers will retire in the next four months.
"The upgradation has failed to bring any change in the situation of the institution. Students have no access to quality education due the acute shortage of teaching staff," said former general secretary of the union, Sumeet Patel.
In August, students had boycotted classes, organised rallies and staged demonstrations demanding more teachers. A memorandum was also submitted to the finance minister, Pradeep Amat at Sambalput.
Deputy registrar of the university, UC Pati, admitted the acute staff shortage and said, "Retired academicians and guest faculty have been engaged to manage the situation."