LACK OF REGULAR VC HITS EXPANSION AT RDWU | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: Rama Devi Women’s University, located in the heart of the city, is grappling with several issues, including the lack of a permanent vice-chancellor, shortage of faculty members, and delays in the university’s expansion plans.After the end of her tenure in Nov last year, Aparajita Chowdhury, the former VC of Rama Devi Women’s University, submitted a representation to the Odisha governor to relinquish her position as VC of the university. She was relieved of her responsibilities on Dec 31 last year.The office of the chancellor asked PG council chairman Chandi Charan Rath to remain in charge of the VC post in the university. The university has not had a permanent VC for the last six months.The university has 57 per cent vacant permanent teaching posts, including a vacancy of around 70 per cent of professor posts. “To start faculty recruitment for the university, a permanent VC is required. An in-charge VC cannot make policy decisions, and many new initiatives face obstacles,” said a faculty member at the university.He said teaching and research were affected due to acute shortage of permanent faculty members. “It received a B++ grade because of this problem. The quality of the university can be improved with the recruitment of more manpower and better mentoring of the affiliated colleges,” he added.When asked, Rath, the in-charge VC of the university, said he is focusing on the timely publication of results and implementing the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. “I want to run the university smoothly and address the students’ issues,” he added.A faculty member, requesting anonymity, said the expansion of the university remains a dream. “Earlier, there was a discussion on opening a second campus for the university. Even the govt had taken steps to allot land, but it got delayed. The land available at the existing campus is not sufficient,” he added.More departments and courses couldn’t be opened due to lack of manpower and space. “We do not have a playground in our university. We cannot organise our inter-college or inter-university tournaments here. We also need more hostels for our students,” said the faculty member.An official of the university said a Plus II college is functioning inside the university. “It should be separated from the university for more space. This separation has not been done so far. Another important aspect of the university is improving the standard of the women’s colleges, increasing faculty members, and enhancing quality teaching and infrastructure,” he added.
