12 Osmania University departments run without professor posts: CAG report

A CAG report has revealed that 12 departments at Osmania University have been functioning without sanctioned professor posts for years, with some also lacking associate professors. The audit flagged concerns over academic standards and staffing gaps affecting teaching and research.

Hyderabad: An academic crisis has hit 12 Osmania University’s departments, including Biotechnology and Forensic Science, as they are operating without sanctioned professor positions for several years. The situation in nearly half of these departments is more appalling as they also lack sanctioned associate professor posts.

The 12 departments – French, German, Kannada, Russian, Tamil, Library and Information Science, Physical Education, Master of Computer Applications, Environmental Science, Forensic Science, Biotechnology and MSW – have no professor positions.

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In addition, Master of Computer Applications, Environmental Science, Forensic Science, Biotechnology and MSW departments lacked associated professor positions, reflecting poor state of academics and research activities in the university’s departments. These departments are running the show with a couple of regular assistant professors and few contract /part-time teachers.

This startling information has come to the fore in the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report that was recently tabled in the Legislative Assembly.

As per the University Grants Commission regulations-2010 and 2018, the university must maintain a pyramid structure i.e., one post of professor, two posts of associated professors and four posts of assistant professor per department. “Audit observed that notwithstanding the Regulation, posts of professors were not sanctioned in 12 academic departments,” the report said.

The University, as per the CAG report, stated that the State government issued its approval for filling up of associate professors and assistant professors during the year 2006 and 2009 without professor posts.

“All the professors working in the University are promoted from the associate professor to professor under Career Advancement Scheme (CAS). Therefore, the University cannot maintain the Pyramid structure as per the UGC regulations-2010 and 2018,” the OU informed CAG.

Another startling revelation was that the university operated the Department of Theatre Arts with no regular or contract teaching staff, even though 39 students were on rolls, four consecutive academic years between 2017-18 to 2020-21 at Nizam College. The university employed part-time teachers to teach this course until 2020-21, before winding up the course in 2021-22.