NEW DELHI: As many as 6,549 teaching positions are lying vacant in central universities, as per the data shared by the education ministry in the Rajya Sabha. Of these, 2,252 seats remain vacant for the unreserved category, 1,761 for Other Backward Classes (OBC), 988 for Scheduled Castes (SC) and 576 for Scheduled Tribes (ST).
The data shared by the ministry is till April 1, 2022. Delhi University (DU) recorded the highest number of vacant posts with 900 spots including 106 in SC category, 57 for STs, and 193 for OBCs and 109 for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and PWD respectively, among others. University of Allahabad had 622 positions lying vacant whereas Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) had 498 empty spots.
Meanwhile, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) had 45 posts of associate and assistant professors lying vacant under the SC category, followed by 28 for STs, 78 for OBCs and 37 for EWS and PWD category respectively. Jamia Millia Islamia University, however, had only three posts lying vacant under the PWD category. The ministry said that retirement, resignation and additional requirements on account of enhanced students’ strength were the reasons for vacancies.
AA Rahim, a member of the parliament, asked the ministry that whether they took cognizance of the tendency in central educational institutions of the vacant positions after conducting recruitment process and declaring none found suitable. Questions regarding number of recruitment process conducted for such seats were also raised. In this regard, the ministry issued a statement saying DU conducted recruitment process for 112 posts and JNU conducted 200 for the same.
The ministry then requested all the Central Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) to fill up the vacancies within a period of one year. Since August 2021, selection process for 4,807 posts in central universities are on. Also in its Centenary year, DU slipped by one spot to remain at 13th place in the university category of National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF 2022). DU Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh blamed the adverse student-teacher ratio at DU for the downslide.
Meanwhile, the DU teachers believed that the education ministry time and again restricts its data to only the main departments of the university. The teachers questioned why the other courses, departments and colleges are left out when it comes to vacancies?
Abha Dev Habib, Secretary Democratic Teachers’ Front and former member of the Academic council, DU said, “The data as shared by the ministry somehow masks the correct information. The figures in real time depict an alarming situation. If we take colleges into account, the vacancy data will be too high. We have been demanding for the absorption of ad-hoc teachers but to no effect.”
