OU teachers fume over promotion denial; University defends, citing lack of quality

Osmania University denied CAS promotions to 46 faculty members, triggering protests and allegations of bias. Teachers claim they met UGC norms, while the university cites poor research quality. The issue has been raised with OU Chancellor and Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma

Hyderabad: Teachers at Osmania University are left fuming as the university rejected promotions to over 40 faculty members under recently concluded Career Advancement Scheme, despite claiming they met all eligibility requirements.

The faculty complained they were rejected solely based on the interviews and raised the issue with Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, who is OU Chancellor. However, the university administration defended the move, stating the rejections were due to a lack of research quality and meaningful project contributions.

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Teachers alleged that despite having academic credentials, including high citation counts, h-index, and publications in Q1 journals, and Web of Science, the university showed favouritism and selective treatment while giving promotions to certain teachers.

Objecting to the denial of CAS promotions, the Osmania University Teachers Association said that under the pretext of ‘quality’, many deserving teachers were rejected despite their proven performance.

“It’s the first time in the university’s history that 46 faculty members are denied promotions. While private college teachers are promoted to positions of professor and associate professor with the Vice Chancellor acting as chairperson, contrary to the UGC regulations, the university teachers denied similar consideration, resulting in discrimination and humiliation,” said Prof B Manohar, president of OUTA.

Speaking to ‘Telangana Today’, OU Vice-Chancellor, Prof M Kumar, pointed out that lack of research and project works led to the denial of promotion to over 40 faculty members. A total of 163 teachers were eligible, and 119 got promotions.

“Some professors did not make any progress in the last 10 years in order to get promoted as senior professors. Several do not have research projects. We are not looking at the number but the quality. Moreover, based on the faculty performance, experts from IITs, IISc, BHU and Anna University rejected their promotions. Some teachers are mudslinging and trying to dilute the university’s reputation,” Prof Kumar added.