HYDERABAD : The new universi- ties are established in semi-urban areas so the professors and others are reluctant to leave major cities and work in semi- urban areas.

Five years after setting up nine new universities in various districts across Andhra Pradesh, the state government has not rationalised the faculty and non-teaching staff in these new universities.

As a result, the old universities have excess staff while the new universities have an acute shortage of staff.

The new universities were formed after reducing the jurisdiction of the old universities, so hundreds of constituent colleges and private colleges affiliated to the old universities were shifted to the new universities, considerably reducing the work burden on the old universities. The staff strength, though, continued to remain the same For instance, Osmania University earlier had about 700 staff members with a jurisdiction of 800 affiliation colleges. Today, the number has been reduced to 400 colleges.

However, OU’s staff strength continues to be the same. Many of its constituent and affiliated colleges are now under the jurisdiction of new universities such as Telangana University, Nalgonda University and Palamur University.

Most have just one full-time professor in each department; the rest of the staff is employed on contract.

A senior official in the higher education department explains this uneven distribution of lecturers: “The old universities are located in major cities such as Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam etc. The professors and staff members have been working in them for years.

The new universities are established in semi-urban areas such as Nizamabad, Mahbubnagar, Kurnool etc.

The professors and others are reluctant to leave major cities and work in semiurban areas.”