OU affiliated colleges accused of showing JNTUH faculty on their staff rolls

Hyderabad: Are faculty members working in the affiliated colleges of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTUH) are loaning their names to the postgraduate colleges affiliated to the Osmania University?

If the allegations doing rounds are to be believed several postgraduate, engineering, management and pharmacy colleges affiliated to the OU are reportedly roping in the faculty members from the JNTUH.

The JNTUH faculty are shown as regular working faculty in the OU affiliated colleges to show on paper that the college managements are maintaining the teacher-student ratio. This is to circumvent the existing rules for getting sanctions for the number of intake of seats in different courses.

The Telangana Schools, Technical Colleges Employees Association (TSTCEA), besides raising the issue of non-payment of salaries complained to OU authorities that the technical, pharmacy and management colleges affiliated to it are not following the teacher-student ratio. They alleged that the colleges are violating the norms stipulated by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE).

The TSTCEA president A Santosh Kumar said that the JNTUH has a biometric attendance system in place for the faculty members. But, in the case of OU, the same is not followed stringently. In turn, this is giving scope for some colleges to float norms. He alleged that some colleges are running the courses with 50 per cent of the staff. Against, the faculty strength stipulated as per the AICTE, UGC and the OU. But, "the staff strength remains only on paper. Sometimes roping in the names of even the faculty working in the affiliated colleges of JNTUH.

He asked the State government to inquire into these issues to take the erring colleges to task for hoodwinking the regulatory authorities, university and the State government for availing fee reimbursement funds without providing salaries to the faculty and playing havoc with the standards of education in the colleges. However, when contacted, OU, Registrar said that the university has so far not received any complaints about the faculty working in the JNTUH affiliated colleges shown on the faculty rolls in the OU affiliated colleges. Further, he said that the OU has also put in place the biometric system for attendance. He reiterated that the university is committed to maintaining the standards of education and look into such issues on receipt of any complaints of the OU affiliated colleges floating the norms.