Students, Faculty Worried Over Academic Standards at KU

WARANGAL: Kakatiya University is the second largest university in Telangana, which provides higher education to many students who are mostly from poor and rural backgrounds. But over the past few years, questions have been raised over educational standards at the university following numerous controversies.

Association of Kakatiya University Teachers (AKUT), student union leaders of Kakatiya University Joint Action Committee (KU-JAC), and Kakatiya University Retired Teachers’ Association (KURTA) have expressed worry over a series of incidents and irregularities at the university in Hanamkonda district.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, AKUT president Prof. T. Srinivas and general secretary Prof. M. Estari have accused university vice chancellor and registrar of allotting ₹20 lakh every year to various departments for taking up projects like research. But only fake projects are taken up and there is no scrutiny by principals concerned or department heads.

They said because of such activities, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has downgraded the university to B+.

Kakatiya University has also come under scrutiny for illegal recruitment practices. Telangana High Court had issued notices to authorities concerned for appointing 12 individuals as adjunct faculty. But university authorities made the appointments without following the guidelines stipulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC) or obtaining prior permission from the state government, the AKUT leaders stated.

Student union leaders M. Ram Babu and A. Nagaraju said they had questioned the irregularities in Ph. D admissions. They alleged that instead of following guidelines laid down for these admissions, the VC, registrar and deans of various departments sold 75 per cent of the Ph. D seats. As a result, ineligible candidates got the seats, including part-time and government employees.

Further, the student leaders pointed out that retired professors are not eligible for appointment to administrative posts, as per UGC guidelines. Yet, the state government appointed Prof. T. Ramesh as vice chancellor, which is nothing but abuse of power. They accused the VC of acting like an agent of BRS government and stifling the voice of students who are questioning the irregularities occurring in the university.

KURTA president Prof. A. Sadanandam and general secretary Prof. A. Ravinder expressed to DC their displeasure over the irregularities in the university, including in Ph. D admissions. They felt the university should utilise services of senior teachers, who have served KU for 30–40 years, in selecting students for the Ph. D programmes.