Nearly 6,180 teaching posts - 32.6 % of the sanctioned 18,936 posts - are at present vacant in 45 different central universities throughout the country, as informed by the central government to the Parliament today. 38.3% sanctioned teaching posts in different Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) are also vacant; besides 31% in different Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also confirmed that out of 18,956 sanctioned teaching posts in 45 different central universities, 12,776 posts were already filled up while 6,180 posts still continue to lie vacant as of 1 December, 2022.
Out of these vacancies 2,347 posts are of assistant professors, followed by 2,304 posts to be filled up by associate professors and the remaining 1,529 by the professors. This category-wise breakup for every vacant post, highlights that 2,267 posts are of the general category followed by 1,559 posts for the other backward classes and the remaining 908 for scheduled castes.
The Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category, which was introduced back in the year 2019, has the highest proportion of vacancies topped by persons with disabilities (PWD) with around 58.6 %.
Mr. Pradhan further even added that 4,502 out of 11,170 sanctioned teaching posts are vacant in IITs. Whereas, 493 out of 1,566 sanctioned teaching posts are vacant in IIMs.
Pradhan even stated that the education ministry is taking steps by directing all higher education institutions (HEIs) to fill up the vacancies in “mission mode”. It has also set up a monthly monitoring mechanism for the same.