JNTU-H diktat denies jobs to PhD teachers

​Hyderabad: New rules by the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTU-H) are forcing private engineering colleges to issue pink slips to scores of teachers, some of them, with over two decades of teaching experience.

According to sources, off late, the Academic Audit Cell (AAC) of JNTU-H had been refusing to ratify the eligibility of degrees of faculty members working in the private engineering colleges. For example, those with B Tech in Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering, M Tech in Electronics Engineering and allied subject and Ph D in interdisciplinary areas are now not eligible to teach Electronics and Communications Engineering at B Tech level.

Speaking to The Hans India, principal of a private engineering college from Rangareddy district said, “Prior to the bifurcation and two years after, they were allowed to teach ECE and Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering (EIE), under JNTU-H. It was the same AAC of JNTU-H which had ratified their eligibility earlier. Now, they say, such candidates are not eligible.”

The AAC-JNTU-H adopted a similar rule in case of those with Master of Computer Applications (MCA) with PhD and who served for years in teaching Computer Sciences Engineering (CSE) and Information Technology (IT) in B Tech.

When contacted, a top official from the JNTU-H said that the refusal to ratify might have come as they do not possess a basic degree in the core domain at BTech and MTech level.

Responding to this, a senior official from the JNTU-Kakinada said, “I cannot comment on the policy of another university. But, there are no such changes made by our university. And, in no way, it is adversely affecting our students from getting selected by the companies or in pursuing their higher studies.”

Following the AAC-JNTU-H decisions, the aggrieved have knocked the doors of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Telangana State Council for Higher Education (TSCHE) seeking justice. 

Clarifying more on the issues, an aggrieved faculty member said that the AAC-JNTU-H is ratifying MSc Mathematics, Physics and Electronics, MTech Computer Sciences to teach in CSE and IT department. Similar is the case with M Tech with Computer Networks, M Tech with Software Engineering or MTech with Artificial Intelligence, in which, they have ten theory subjects only related to a particular domain.

Against the above, the MCA candidates cover Programming Languages, Software Engineering, Data Structures, Algorithms, Network Security, Artificial Intelligence, Managerial Economics, Software Project Management, Financial Accounting, Management Information Systems (Services), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), E-Commerce, Database Management, Data Warehouse and Data Mining, Distributed Systems, Computer Graphics, Machine Learning, Operating Systems, Mobile Computing, Information Security, Scripting Languages, besides Software Testing Methodologies and other areas.  “We had completed MPhil and PhD with the interdisciplinary areas. Yet, we are told that we are not eligible,” the faculty member added.

Top officials of the TSCHE expressed their helplessness to intervene in the matter. In his response to a query, Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Chairman of the AICTE, said that MCA with PhD are eligible to teach CSE and IT subjects. But, it depends on recruiting authority if they find such candidates useful to teach or not.

But, the million dollar question is while several other universities elsewhere in the country are allowing MCA with PhD candidates to teach CSE and IT at BTech level, what higher learning curve those in the AAC-JNTU-H have vis-a-vis their counterparts to deny the opportunities which bring value addition?