Sambalpur, Aug. 15: The students of Gangadhar Meher University (GMU) met finance minister Pradeep Kumar Amat here today and apprised him about the shortage of teaching staff at the institution.

General secretary of the students' union of the university Sumeet Patel said: "The institution has been grappling with a severe teaching staff shortage. The people of the region and many social organisations have brought the matter to the notice of the government several times. However, the problem persists."

"Instead, the government has recently transferred four teachers from the institution, forcing the students of the university resort to agitation," said the student leader.

"We want the government to fill up the vacancies at the earliest. If the government does not take to do so, we will intensify our agitation," said another student of the varsity.

The students also submitted a memorandum to the finance minister. The finance minister Amat assured the students that he would discuss the matter with the higher education minister.

The students of the premier institute in the region had boycotted classes and staged a demonstration over the teaching staff shortage and transfer of four teachers from the university without waiting for their relievers on August 11.

Besides, the students had also boycotted classes and organised a rally over the issue on August 12. The students had also staged a demonstration in front of the office of the district collector on that same day. On August 4, the students had also met the vice-chancellor of the university, S.S. Rath, over the matter.

The institution was upgraded to a university on May 30 last year. At present, the institution has only 58 teachers, including 12 ad hoc teachers, against the sanctioned strength of 119.