NEW DELHI: More than 6,420 faculty positions have been filled since September last year, of which 920 positions have been filled by Scheduled Castes (SCs), 457 by Scheduled Tribes (STs) and 1502 by Other Backward Classes (OBCs), the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
In a written reply, Minister of State for Education Dr. Subhas Sarkar, said that the occurrence of vacancies and filling thereof is a continuous process.
“The vacancies arise due to retirement, resignation and additional requirements on account of enhanced students’ strength. The onus of filling up of the posts lies with the central universities which are autonomous bodies created under Acts of Parliament,” he said.
He said through a special recruitment drive the ministry was able to fill over 6000 vacancies.
In another written reply, the minister said that faculty positions were filled with 339 from the Economically Weaker section (EWS) and 181 with Person with Benchmark Disability (PWBDs).
Sarkar said that the government-sponsored preparatory programmes for academic skills, linguistic proficiency and performance in examination in terms of remedial coaching for SC/ST/OBC (Non-Creamy Layer) and minority community students are run by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for the benefit of undergraduate/postgraduate students.
Moreover, UGC has also been giving coaching for the National Eligibility Test (NET)/State Eligibility Test (SET) for SC/ST/OBC (Non Creamy Layer) and minority community students, he said.
Coaching classes for preparation for Group - A/B/C Central/State Services or equivalent positions in private sector for students belonging SC/ST/OBC (Non Creamy Layer) and Minority Community Students are also run by UGC, he added.