Bhubaneswar, June 30: Contractual teachers of Shri Jagannath Sanskrit Vishvavidyalaya (SJSV) in Puri are an unhappy lot. They want their jobs to be made permanent and are opposed to the hiring of new teachers.

While contractual teachers are up in arms, a group of professors has alleged irregularities in the appointment of permanent faculty members in the university. The teachers have accused the university administration of having violated several criteria to favour the appointment of new lecturers. The interviews for the new candidates were held in February, while the varsity to set to advertise afresh for another round of hiring.

Established in 1981, SJSV is the third Sanskrit university in the country after Sampurnanand Sanskrit University of Benaras and Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University in Bihar. At present, 50 per cent of the faculty posts are vacant and contractual teachers manage the classes.

The contractual teachers alleged that the authorities pushed in an age criteria to confuse the aspiring candidates. While the maximum age limit for a lecturer's post was advertised as 32, the authorities have also appointed those who have crossed the age limit.

"In fact, the age criteria was intentionally included to weed out many potential candidates, especially those who are already working as contractual teachers in the university for a long period of time," said Rabinarayan Sahoo, a teacher.

Last year, the university had advertised for the appointment of 20 faculty members in the posts of readers, lecturers and professors of various departments.

"Surprisingly, despite the specifications, the varsity allowed candidates beyond 32 years of age to be interviewed. A majority of the candidates who were selected following a written examination had crossed the age limit. Two such candidates were directly selected as lecturers for Advait Vedanta department," said Pradeep Acharya, a disgruntled teacher

The contractual teachers demanded that they should have been provided permanent appointments on immediate basis rather than new candidates being chosen for the job. The teachers have already petitioned the governor and chancellor of universities, S.C. Jamir, and also filed a writ petition in Orissa High Court.

Vice-chancellor Gangadhar Panda said the appointments were made in consultation with the selection committee and the university's syndicate.

Panda said the university would not get the mandatory accreditation of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) if all the faculty posts were not filled up before the audit team visits the campus in July.