HPU faces staff shortage, students dependent on guest faculty
Adamant on continuation of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), more than 100 posts teaching staff are lying vacant in the Himachal Pradesh University.
Adamant on continuation of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), more than 100 posts teaching staff are lying vacant in the Himachal Pradesh University.
Himachal Pradesh University has 40 departments and all departments are facing the acute staff shortage. Even several departments, including Sanskrit and Hindi, are without faculty in the International Centre for Distance Education and Open Learning (ICDEOL).
The only teacher in the sociology department, Mohan Jhaarta, is also holding an additional charge of registrar of the university. Though registrar was an additional responsibility on him, sociology students are dependable on guest faculty as Jhaarta has exhaustive schedule as a registrar.
Student as well as teachers associations have been demanding to fill up these vacant posts but all in vain.
Executive council (EC) member Varyam Singh Bains said issue of filling up vacant posts had come to the council but still several posts are lying vacant. "Adequate steps will be taken up to fill up these posts," he said.
In different departments, 110 posts of lecturer and 65 posts of reader are lying vacant, besides, 38 posts of professors.
Time to time University had created some posts on the self-financing basis, of which 30 posts are lying vacant, including 22 of lecturer and two professors.
Apart from teaching staff, 76 posts of non-teaching are also lying vacant.
Student Central Association (SCA) general secretary Piyush Sewal said they had been raising the issue since long but the university administration never took it seriously.
"This issue is affecting the standard of education in HPU," he said, adding some of the departments have no heads and others are facing staff shortage. Some of the departments were surviving with help of guest faculties.
HPU vice-chancellor ADN Bajpai said he was aware of the staff shortage and had been endeavoured to fill up the posts. "I am trying to fill up the posts as soon as possible," said Bajpai.
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