
A faculty member at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad (JNTUH) has complained to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) that the university's 10% cap on interdisciplinary faculty teaching emerging technology…
A faculty member at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad (JNTUH) has complained to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) that the university's 10% cap on interdisciplinary faculty teaching emerging technology courses violates AICTE norms. The council has now directed JNTUH to examine and resolve the grievance at the earliest.

The faculty member, Ome Narella, said AICTE rules allow qualified faculty from core engineering branches to teach courses in emerging areas, but JNTUH restricts this to a limited number through the cap. The AICTE circular stated that all colleges must have a grievance redressal mechanism, and if a faculty member is not satisfied with the institutional committee, they may approach the university. Faculty members argued that removing the cap is vital for their survival as most colleges have discontinued core engineering courses and converted seats to computer science and allied branches.
The dispute exposes a tension between university-level administrative quotas and AICTE's central flexibility norms. With engineering colleges across Telangana rapidly replacing core branches like mechanical and civil with computer science and data science, core faculty risk redundancy if they cannot teach new courses. JNTUH's 10% cap appears aimed at preventing a complete staff shift, but if AICTE rules clearly permit such cross-deployment, the university will have to either justify the cap or scrap it. The next step is JNTUH's response to AICTE, which could set a precedent for similar caps at other state technical universities.
watch for: JNTUH's reply to AICTE, which could come within weeks.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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