Thousands of vacancies continue to plague central universities, IITs & IIMs

The functioning of Indian institutions of higher learning continues to be crippled due to large number of vacancies. Latest government data has shown that the scale of the problem is massive and the scope widespread.

The HRD Ministry has said that while there is a total sanctioned teaching strength of 17106 in 40 Central Universities (CUs), 5997 of these posts are lying vacant (35%).

Further, posts of 8 Vice Chancellors in 41 CUs are also lying vacant. In these universities, the acting Vice Chancellors are performing the duties of the VC.

In the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), 181 posts are lying vacant out of the total sanctioned posts of 454 (39%).

Among premier institutes, 20 Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) have 273 vacancies among the total sanctioned teaching posts of 1007 (27%).

Among the 23 IITs, 2612 posts out of total sanctioned teaching positions of 5394 are lying vacant.

In 32 NITs and IIEST, Shibpur, 3552 out of 7436 sanctioned teaching positions are vacant.

Similarly, among 4 IIITs, 117 out of 308 sanctioned teaching positions are lying vacant.

In 7 Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, 153 out of the total sanctioned teaching posts of 1117 are lying vacant.

The information was given by the ministry in reply to a question asked in the Lok Sabha by Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia. In the written response, the government has also tried to shirk its own responsibility, saying “the onus to fill up the vacant teaching posts lies with the Universities which are statutory autonomous bodies”.

In its defence, the ministry has listed some steps that it and UGC have taken to address the problem. However, the first such step listed is a move undertaken way back in 2007 – enhancing the age of superannuation for teachers in Central Educational Institutions to 65 years.

Interestingly, this is a marginal improvement from the situation about two years ago, when the vacancies were at about 40%.