Bhubaneswar, April 8: The state government's decision not to allow guest lecturers in diploma engineering colleges and Industrial Training Institutes in the state has left authorities of these institutions in a quandary.

B.P. Sahoo, who retired as the director of Directorate of Technical Education and Training on March 31, in a written note to principals of these diploma institutions on the same day, directed them not to engage part-time guest lecturers. They were asked to manage training with the available regular teachers.

More than 700 guest lecturers stand to lose their jobs as a result of the decision. Besides, classes in all 35 engineering schools, polytechnic colleges and 30 government Industrial Training Institutes would be severely affected, according to a source in a Bhubaneswar institute.

The situation is particularly dire in the 15 new polytechnic colleges the state government has opened during the past four years, which do not have a regular principal or faculty member, the source said.

"If all possibilities of managing the classes have been exhausted, the principals can engage retired personnel after seeking specific permission from the directorate to engage the outsiders with proper justification and certificate to the effect of that only," Sahoo had written in his letter.

These guest lecturers were appointed in 2010 after the All-India Council for Technical Education made it compulsory for these institutions to maintain a proper teacher-student ratio. Accordingly, the teachers were appointed at Rs 150 for each theory and Rs 80 for each practical class they take.

Authorities at Bhubanananda Odisha School of Engineering, one of the top engineering schools in the state, however, said that they were not facing any problem.

"We never engaged guest teachers. Hence, there is no question of disengagement," said principal P.R. Mohanty. The institute currently has 24 regular teachers on its payroll.

Mohanty said since the fourth and sixth semester exams were going on and classes for the other semesters were over, there was no difficulty as of now.

He, however, did not rule out the possibility of a crisis when the new session started.

A number of guest faculty members today demonstrated outside the Bhubanananda Odisha School of Engineering to protest against the government's decision. "This is so strange; we are being removed without any valid reason. This is a conspiracy by the state government or some officials to compromise on the quality of teaching in government institutes to allow private players gain from it," said Sunil Ghadei, a part-time faculty member of a government ITI.