4 Dalhousie colleges lack staff , adequate infrastructure

Naresh Thakur

Chamba, February 27

Despite the state government’s assertions of prioritising education, the ground reality contradicts such claims. The real situation paints a grim picture for the state’s students and educators.

In remote regions, the situation is bleak as the educational institutions face lingering issues like staff shortage and inadequate infrastructure. Take, for instance, four degree colleges under the Dalhousie Assembly segment of Chamba, one of the 112 aspirational districts, which are grappling with a severe shortage of faculty, administrative staff and infrastructure, raising concerns about the quality of education imparted to the students.

These four colleges are at Salooni, Telka, Bhalie and Banikhet. The Salooni college is the oldest among the four, being established in 2006, while the college at Banikhet was established in 2022. Both Bhalei and Telka colleges were established in 2017.

Information tabled in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly — in response to a question raised by Dalhousie MLA DS Thakur during the ongoing Budget session — revealed that there was severe shortage of faculty and administrative staff in the four colleges. Two of the four colleges, Telka and Bhalei, did not have a principal.

The post of Principal at Salooni was also lying vacant and was filled only this month. There are 29 sanctioned posts of assistant professors in the four colleges of which 12 are lying vacant. As per the information tabled in the House, the Salooni college had four vacant posts — two of assistant professor in English and one each of assistant professor in geography and music. The college has 11 sanctioned posts of assistant professors in different subjects. The six posts of administrative staff, including Superintendent Grade-II, senior assistant, clerics, librarian and lab attendants, were also lying vacant.

Posts of assistant professor in Hindi and history were lying vacant at Telka. There are seven sanctioned posts of the assistant professors in the college. Also, four posts of administrative staff are vacant.

In Government College, Bhalei, five posts against six sanctioned posts of assistant professors were lying vacant, which included one post each of English, history and political science. There is no one to teach the commerce stream students as both the posts are vacant. Three posts of administrative staff were also vacant in the college.

In the Banikhet college, one post of assistant professor (English) is lying vacant. All the posts of administrative staff were also lying vacant putting an extra burden on the teaching staff to execute administrative works.

The shortage has cast a shadow over the academic landscape, affecting both faculty and administrative roles crucial for the smooth functioning of these institutions.

Students pursuing degrees in fields of arts and sciences find themselves facing the repercussions of this staffing crisis.

Moreover, the administrative infrastructure of these colleges is also strained due to the shortage of non-teaching staff. Absence of essential support staff has led to administrative inefficiencies while the teaching staff is overburdened with the administrative works.

Apart from being understaffed, three institutes also lack basic infrastructure to be called a college. Only the Salooni college, which has its own building, the other three institutes are running from borrowed rooms.

Functioning from a primary school building

• Government Degree College at Telka functions from a primary school building. Recently, the students at the college had to stage a protest after this accommodation was also snatched away from them by the school management. It was only after the intervention of higher authorities that the rooms were reallotted for college classes
• Land measuring 2.83 hectares has been identified for the college campus and is awaiting forest clearance. Government College, Bhalei, functioned from local primary school till 2001 and then was shifted to two rooms hired from the local panchayat. Sometimes classes are held on open ground
• The Banikhet college is in a better position in terms of infrastructure. The college is functioning from a building owned by NHPC and has 8 classrooms.

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