University of Mysore faces staff shortage, resource crunch as NIRF ranking slides
Mysuru: The University of Mysore (UoM) which is one of India's oldest higher education institutions, has suffered a significant decline in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF 2025).
According to a report published by The Hindu, the university is facing the challenges of faculty shortage, decreased revenues and dropping student enrollment.
The university was ranked 71st in the country this year, slipping 20 places from its 2024 position of 51. Vice-Chancellor N K Lokanath attributed the decline primarily to a severe lack of permanent faculty. Of the nearly 400 sanctioned teaching posts, only 23 per cent are filled by full-time staff, while almost three-fourths remain vacant. “There have been no recruitments in nearly two decades,” he said, warning that the strength of permanent faculty may reduce further to 15 per cent in the next four years due to retirements.
Officials pointed out that staffing levels directly influence NIRF scores, as faculty numbers, research, and publications carry significant weightage. “Temporary teachers are unable to lead research teams or contribute extensively to academic publications, which impacts rankings,” Lokanath said.
The university’s financial position has also weakened. Once responsible for colleges across Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, and Hassan districts, UoM now oversees only Mysuru, as the State government’s policy of creating universities in every district has reduced both its student base and affiliation fee revenues. Enrolment in traditional arts and humanities courses has also fallen, with students shifting to skill-oriented and applied science programmes.
Despite the setback, UoM retained the 20th position among State-run public universities nationwide. However, officials and academics stressed that urgent intervention by the Karnataka government is needed to restore its standing. “Recruitment of permanent staff must be prioritized to strengthen research, improve quality of education and arrest further decline,” the Vice-Chancellor said.
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Illegal sand mining has created environmental crisis in National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary: SC
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday said rampant illegal riverbed sand mining has created an "environmental crisis" and wreaked "havoc" in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary, causing a grave risk to the gharial (long-snouted crocodile) preservation project.
Slamming the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for their utter failure in dealing with the issue, the apex court directed them to install high-resolution Wi-Fi-enabled CCTV cameras along all routes frequently used for illegal sand mining in the area.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta directed that live feed of such surveillance cameras shall be placed under the direct control, supervision and operational oversight of the superintendent of police or the senior superintendent of police of the concerned district and the divisional forest officer.
It said these officers shall ensure continuous and effective monitoring of the CCTV feeds by designating appropriate officers.
"It can't be gainsaid that the issues involved are of great concern in as much as the rampant illegal mining activities in the river bed have created an environmental crisis and havoc in the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary causing a grave risk to the very project of gharial preservation of which the state governments themselves were proponents and were under an obligation to foster and promote," Justice Mehta said while pronouncing the order.
The bench directed the authorities in these three states to initiate prompt and necessary action under law if any instance of illegal mining or allied activities comes to light.
It said the authorities shall ensure seizure of vehicles or machinery found involved in illegal sand mining and also initiate prosecution of persons involved in it.
The bench, which passed several other directions, posted the matter for hearing on May 11.
The top court passed the order in a suo motu case titled 'In Re: Illegal sand mining in the National Chambal Sanctuary and threat to endangered aquatic wildlife'.
The National Chambal Sanctuary, also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary, is a 5,400-sq km tri-state protected area.
Besides the endangered gharial, it is home to the red-crowned roof turtle and the endangered Ganges river Dolphin.
Located on the Chambal river near the tripoint of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the sanctuary was first declared a protected area in Madhya Pradesh in 1978 and now constitutes a long and narrow eco-reserve co-administered by the three states.
On March 13, the top court took suo motu cognisance of news reports about rampant illegal sand mining on the banks of the Chambal river.
