Kakatiya University facing faculty shortage

Kakatiya University (KU) is currently facing a significant shortage of teaching staff, which is severely affecting its academic standards. At present, approximately 20 per cent of the required faculty positions remain unfilled, putting a strain on the education system and impacting the experiences of postgraduate students who are struggling without regular professors across various departments.
The university has been sanctioned 55 professor posts, 96 associate professor posts, and 258 assistant professor posts. However, only 76 faculty members are currently in these positions. Not a single professor post has been filled, and only two associate professors have been appointed. Out of the 258 assistant professors needed, only 77 are available. This leaves 333 out of 409 total teaching posts vacant, exacerbating the crisis.
This staffing shortage has been ongoing for years, with the last major recruitment efforts taking place in 2010. Since then, as regular professors retired, no new appointments have been made. As a result, the educational quality at KU has steadily declined over the last 15 years.
Research activities, in particular, have been severely impacted. With a lack of experienced faculty to supervise research scholars, the quality of research has dropped, and students are falling behind in competitive examinations. Many departments are without heads, such as Telugu and Political Science, while others have only one research guide for multiple disciplines. Once a highly sought-after university, KU is now struggling to attract students for research programmes, with many postgraduate seats going unfilled.
Retired KU professors ament the university’s decline in educational standards and student interest, recalling the days when KU was a major academic hub. The students appealed to State government to take immediate action to address the staffing crisis, as the university’s credibility is on the line.