‘What do I get?’: Underpaid guest teachers bear the load as Odisha universities reel from faculty shortage

“It is not at all easy to teach subjects which one does not specialise in,” said a guest teacher of physics at a state university in Odisha. “I teach optics; it is difficult to teach mechanics.” But he has to teach both to tide over the acute shortage of teachers in the university.

Like him, a guest teacher at another university who teaches organic chemistry has also been pulled into teaching inorganic and physical chemistry. “The main problem we are facing is that there is a shortage of faculty,” he said. “A lot of classes are being missed, and we, the guest teachers, have to complete the syllabus. The university is being manned by guest faculty mainly.”

Khallikote University has no permanent faculty in the chemistry department — or, for that matter, in most departments.

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As per Pragativadi.com, 1,353 sanctioned faculty posts and over 2,000 non-teaching posts in Odisha’s state-run universities remain vacant. Recruitment has been stalled for years, with the last major hiring drive taking place almost five years ago, during the tenure of the previous government.

Reliance on guest teachers

Due to the vacancies, postgraduate departments of nearly all state universities, including Utkal, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Ravenshaw, and Fakir Mohan Universities are forced to depend on guest and contractual teachers. Departments that once had full-fledged teaching teams are now reduced to skeletal arrangements, often with guest lecturers doubling or tripling their teaching load.

University administrators insist that students’ education is not being hampered. Munesh Chandra Adhikary, director of the Centre for Distance and Online Education at Fakir Mohan University, said, “Yes, the problem of faculty recruitment not happening for a long period of time is an issue. But we are trying to see that the students do not face any problem because all the guest faculties who are teaching them are well qualified, having cleared their UGC NET exam and are PhD holders. We are not compromising on students’ education.” The NET is the National Eligibility Test for teaching in colleges.

For students like Shibani Sabad, a postgraduate student of chemistry at Khallikote University, the faculty shortage has made academic life more stressful.

“Our teacher is very good and he is doing all that he can so that we don’t face any problem. But timing is an issue. The teachers have to complete the syllabus, so they rush through,” she said. “When the same teacher has to teach added subjects, the workload with him is also immense, and we have to juggle between multiple classes. It is very stressful.”

Guest Faculty: ‘What do I get?’

Guest-faculty status comes with low pay and lack of stability.

“For the hard work I am doing, I am not getting either money or satisfaction,” said a teacher. “I am earning around Rs 45,000. Had I been a permanent professor, I would have got over Rs 1 lakh.”

This has impacted his personal life. “I am not getting married also for this reason because what will I feed my family?” he asked.

Another teacher associated with Utkal University as a guest lecturer shared that he had quit his corporate job to complete his PhD and had cleared NET with the hope of working as a professor but now regrets those decisions.

“For the past six years, I have not been able to move, stuck at being a guest lecturer. Though the government has said that they will advertise for the posts, first the VCs will be recruited and then the faculty position will be advertised for. So, I don't foresee any change for at least another year, [even] if things are on track.”

Also, in an unusual arrangement, the botany HoD of Khallikote University was given additional charge of the chemistry department after the summer break, an arrangement that shows how universities are stretching their limited resources.

Odisha has 17 public universities with 2,027 sanctioned teaching positions but only 674 of these are filled.

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Teacher recruitment timeline unclear

The recruitment of faculty in Odisha’s universities was stalled due to a policy decision by the previous government, led by the Biju Janata Dal. The Odisha University (Amendment) Act, 2020 mandated that university teachers would be recruited through the Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC).

However, this was challenged in court as it also did not follow the University Grants Commission (UGC) rules on recruitment. The Supreme Court imposed an interim stay on recruitment which it lifted in May, 2025.

The Odisha government has assured that steps are being taken to address the crisis. Higher education minister Suryabanshi Suraj said that the appointment process for vice chancellors and permanent faculty will take place soon but shared no timeline.