Outsourced Instead of Empowered: The Silent Erosion of Manpower, Resources and Services in Indian Academic Libraries

In the present-day scenario almost all the academic libraries in India are increasingly being staffed through outsourced and contractual manpower in place of regular, professionally qualified library personnel. Outsourcing, originally conceived as a cost-saving tool for peripheral, non-core activities, has expanded in many institutions to cover core professional functions such as cataloguing, reference service, collection development, and information literacy instruction. This paper examines its effects on three interlinked dimensions of academic library functioning in India in terms of manpower, resources and services. Drawing attention to published studies and the prevailing recruitment scenario, the paper argues that the long-term substitution of qualified technical professionals with low-paid, high-turnover outsourced staff is weakening the intellectual capacity, collection development and service quality of academic libraries, and calls for a reversal of this trend through regular recruitment against the prevailing sanctioned posts.