The University of Kerala, which has been basking in the limelight of its NAAC A++ re-accreditation, has been unable to unlock its research potential owing to staff shortage.
Around one-third, i.e., 96 teaching posts, remained vacant in the teaching departments of the university, litigations and changes in appointment norms have delayed appointments to a majority of these.
The deficiency was among those flagged by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in its performance audit that covered the period 2016-21.
The university, which has 307 sanctioned teaching posts, currently has 211 teachers who were appointed on a permanent basis.
While it could fill 56 posts during the last two years, Kerala University had been unable to fill 53 posts including 19 Professor posts that it had notified in 2017 owing to a paucity of qualified candidates. Among these, 33 Assistant Professor posts will be re-notified in August and the rest subsequently. The appointments to 43 fresh vacancies including those that arose by retirements will be taken up at a later stage, official sources said.
In 2021, the university reported to have 70 contract lecturers in its 43 departments and the School of Distance Education, according to the CAG report.
Besides, two teaching departments – Kerala Studies, and Nanoscience and Nanotechnology – lacked sanctioned posts, while the Department of Biotechnology has only two. Teachers have been posted from other departments on a work arrangement basis to conduct their courses.
The shortage has adversely impacted research output with several research scholars unable to identify guides. The prevailing University Grants Commission (UGC) norms stipulated limits in the numbers of scholars who could be guided by Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors.
A senior official said the legal battles over the university’s decision to treat all departments as a single unit to identify reserved posts had delayed appointments. Furthermore, the template of the appointment process had to be modified in accordance with the regulations laid by the UGC for teachers’ appointments in 2018.
In addition, repeated requests made by the university for new posts have been rejected by the government that has cited financial difficulties.
The lacunae had dashed the university’s hopes of becoming an ‘Institution of Eminence’ three years ago. While Kerala University had applied to the UGC for the status that would have enabled the institution to receive a grant of up to ₹1,000 crore, the request was turned down on account of the faculty shortage.
