Hyderabad: In what could be an appointments scam in state universities in Telangana, several varsities employed contract employees on an ad-hoc basis circumventing rules.

Instead of following the textbook process and hiring regular staff, many universities have hired employees in teaching and non-teaching categories in numbers more than the sanctioned strength.

All this was done at a time when Vice Chancellors were about to demit office.

Even Chief Minister, K. Chandrasekhar Rao recently said 300 to 400 appointments were made in varsities without following any rules.

An inquiry is being carried out by top officials of the TS higher education department. Principal Secretary, Ranjeev Acharya has sought details of faculty strengths and appointments made in varsities.

Sources said that irregularities were noticed by Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari and Ranjeev Acharya recently in the case of Kakatiya University. Telangana University is already under the scanner for irregularities in appointments. Other universities like the Osmania University are also under the scanner. “The whole thing came to light with Kakatiya University. They had hired more than 250 employees on contract basis last year and directly issued orders. And when asked, they couldn’t justify the appointments,” a senior education department official said.