Lack of staff affects academic work in Puri Sanskrit univ
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Bhubaneswar: For one and a half years, Shree Jagannath Sanskrit University in Puri is functioning without a permanent vice-chancellor. An acute shortage of permanent staff has affected academic activities and caused delays in the publication of results, among others.
Currently, the VC of Utkal University of Culture, Bhubaneswar, is overseeing the affairs of the Puri institute.
After Rabindra Kumar Panda left the VC's post before the end of his term in Nov 2023, vice-chancellor of Odia University, Sabita Pradhan, took over charge of the Sanskrit university in Nov last year. Subsequently, vice-chancellor of Utkal University of Culture, Prasanna Kumar Swain, was appointed as in-charge VC.
"The university is functioning like a college. As the institute does not have a permanent VC and in-charge VCs keep changing, we cannot expect a steady growth and start of the recruitment process," said a faculty member requesting anonymity.
He said the examination section does not have enough people to process the results and publish them on time. "Major reforms are needed to make the university vibrant. Some old methods need to be changed.
Skill development programmes should be started. Quality education with modern techniques should be given importance," he added.
Harihar Hota, former VC of the Sanskrit university, said many academic activities and administrative works are getting affected due to the lack of permanent teaching and non-teaching staff. "Guest faculty members or contractual staff will leave the job as soon as they get another good offer," he added.
He said job-oriented courses should be offered by the university to attract students. "Some courses can be designed in such a way that they will provide jobs to students. Proper leadership and regular faculty members can help in this," he added.
According to govt data, around 50% of the total sanctioned posts of the university are vacant. It has five vacant professor posts out of a sanctioned strength of seven. The institution has six vacant associate professor posts against the sanctioned strength of 12.
Similarly, there are eight vacant assistant professor posts against a sanctioned strength of 19.
Swain said he has been trying to continue the academic and administrative activities smoothly. "We have dug a big bore well to provide drinking water facilities. We are replacing the old electrical wiring system in buildings. The most important thing is recruitment. I hope the govt will do that very soon," he added.
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