Students of environmental science from three universities protest near Assembly in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 5: Students pursuing environmental studies course at three government varsities — Utkal University, Sambalpur University and Fakir Mohan University — today took out a rally, demanding recruitment as lecturers in government colleges.

A student, who is pursuing MSc in environmental science, said that while the government colleges were running without teachers, there have been no efforts to absorb the qualified graduates.

Environmental science was introduced as a compulsory subject for all intermediate and undergraduate students of all branches following a Supreme Court verdict in 2003.

In the state, Sambalpur University has a postgraduate course on environmental science with an intake capacity of 18, while Fakir Mohan University has 32 seats.

Utkal University has 32 seats. Besides, there are MPhil and PhD seats in the subject. More than 1,000 students have obtained their degrees in the course till date.

“Unfortunately, in government colleges, the subject continues to be taught by non-subject teachers. In most of the colleges where we have enquired, Hindi or history teachers are teaching the courses. This certainly hampers the quality of education in the subjects,” he said.

Although the Odisha Public Service Commission issued an advertisement for both junior and senior lecturers, there was no post advertised for environmental studies.

The students rued that the number of jobs related to environment had been decreasing in the state.

“As of now, private jobs are available with private companies and students join as environment executive officers with meagre salaries. The public sector units have almost no jobs for this sector. In such a situation, the state government must consider our situation,” said Jayanti Dash, a student.

“This is really bad when so many students are struggling to get a job,” said Srinivas Acharya, one of the students. The students handed over a memorandum of demands to the chief secretary and the secretary of the higher education department.

“We will wait to see if the government takes any action, or else, we will be forced to launch an indefinite strike,” said Laxmikant Dash, another student.