Bhubaneswar: State’s 17 public universities are facing a severe faculty shortage, with nearly 70% of sanctioned teaching posts lying vacant. As of Aug 31, around 1,450 teaching posts were vacant against a sanctioned strength of 2,086, while non-teaching vacancies crossed 2,150, higher education minister Suryabanshi Suraj informed the assembly on Friday.
The minister was replying to questions from BJD MLA Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo and BJP MLA Om Prakash Mishra on vacancies and the recruitment process in state universities.
Utkal University reported the highest overall number of vacancies, followed by Berhampur University and Ravenshaw University.
Several new and unitary universities are functioning with skeletal staff. At Khallikote Unitary University and Vikram Dev University, all sanctioned professor and associate professor posts are vacant. The two universities also have all 64 sanctioned assistant professor posts vacant, making them heavily dependent on temporary teaching arrangements.
Madhusudan Law University has no regular faculty against its 50 sanctioned teaching posts across the three cadres. Odia University also has vacancies in all its sanctioned faculty positions, though it has only 21 sanctioned posts. Odisha State Open University, Sambalpur has no regular faculty member against its 42 sanctioned posts.
Rajendra University has vacancies in nearly 82% of its sanctioned teaching strength, with 106 of 126 posts unfilled. Dharanidhar University has about 96% of associate professor posts and 95% of assistant professor posts vacant.
The shortage is most acute at the middle and junior faculty levels. Across state universities, 470 of 593 associate professor posts, or 79%, are vacant. Similarly, 715 of 1,194 assistant professor posts, or 60%, remain unfilled, affecting classroom teaching, research supervision and academic administration.
The faculty shortage has also affected student-teacher ratios. Khallikote Unitary University recorded the highest ratio at 44:1, followed by Maa Manikeshawari University, Rama Devi Women’s University and Vikram Dev University at 38:1 each. Gangadhar Meher University reported a ratio of 35:1.
Suraj said universities have issued advertisements for faculty recruitment. Scrutiny and shortlisting of applications are underway, and the process is expected to be completed shortly.
To maintain academic activities until regular appointments are made, universities have engaged 425 guest faculty members. Ravenshaw University has the highest number of guest faculty at 127, followed by Sambalpur University with 91 and Rajendra University with 74.
The minister said recruitment had remained stalled since 2022 due to litigation over the process.
“Following the enactment of the Odisha Universities (Amendment) Act, 2024, and subsequent clearance by the Supreme Court, universities have resumed the process of hiring professors, associate professors and assistant professors,” he added.
