Hyderabad: The practice of engineering colleges hiring additional staff to 'pass' university inspections and secure affiliation, only to lay off a bulk of them thereafter, has come under the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad's (JNTUH) scanner.
The university has warned of strict action against colleges that recently laid off about 30% to 40% of their teaching and non-teaching staff after inspections conducted between April 10 and April 20.
JNTUH officials said they decided to crack the whip following several complaints from those affected about the unethical practice.
'Given the severity of the complaints, we have decided to conduct surprise checks at these colleges and take a decision accordingly,' said K Venkateswara Rao, registrar, JNTUH. The varsity has also issued a circular asking colleges to take corrective measures at the earliest.
Sacking Across Levels, Branches
Staff working at private colleges, meanwhile, said managements have sacked faculty across all levels and branches after the fact-finding committee inspections concluded. These inspections are conducted every year before the commencement of a new academic year to grant affiliation to colleges.
'I was sacked exactly two days after the inspections. My last working day is in the second week of May. All this looks far too convenient for managements, as they showed me as part of the faculty to get affiliation and are aware that JNTUH monitors faculty removals for about a month after inspections,' said a mathematics faculty member, claiming that 105 teaching faculty members, along with her, were sacked immediately after inspections.
Another faculty member from the electronics and communication dept, with close to two decades of experience, said he too was laid off without reason.
'Initially, we thought salary was the criteria. But then I realised they had sacked people across pay scales — from those earning Rs 30,000 per month to those earning over Rs 1 lakh. This is not limited to a single branch, as even those from branches with good admission numbers like CSE and allied streams have lost their jobs,' said the faculty member, who works at a private college in Kompally.
Members of a faculty association said action should be initiated against managements for 'using' faculty only for inspections.
'The problem is not limited to one or two colleges. About 80% (130) of the 175 engineering colleges have sacked 30% to 40% of their staff after inspections. The varsity should come to the rescue of staff and ensure they are not used merely for inspections,' claimed A Santosh Kumar, president of the group.
Colleges' Version
Managements, on the other hand, said faculty are being let go as the academic year is about to end in May.
'If we have good admissions, we will hire faculty again during the next academic year. We are not in a position to pay faculty, as we too are not receiving fee reimbursement dues on time,' said a member of the Federation of Associations of Telangana Higher Education Institutions (FATHI).
Experts also highlighted that faculty capability plays a critical role in shaping student outcomes.
'Without proper faculty, students will not be industry-ready. They need hands-on expertise in areas such as cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity and distributed systems,' said Nikhil Teja Gurram, a US-based researcher and author.
