Bhubaneswar, Dec. 5: The state government is planning to make a five-year stint in the Koraput-Balangir-Kalahandi (KBK) districts compulsory for college teachers during their first posting.

A plan is being chalked out in view of large-scale teaching vacancies in government and aided colleges in the three backward districts, said higher education minister Badri Narayan Patra.

“There are 176 vacancies in government colleges, while there are 173 vacant positions in aided colleges,” said the minister.

The issue of large-scale teaching vacancies in the backward districts was discussed in the Assembly today.

Patra said steps were being taken to fill up the vacant posts through recruitments under the Odisha Public Service Commission. “Apart from that, we have initiated a process for appointment of ad-hoc lecturers in the government colleges. In the aided ones, the teachers would be appointed by the Service Selection Board,” he added.

Among the 23 government colleges in the KBK zone, those with an autonomous tag are the worst hit. Vikram Dev (Autonomous) College in Jeypore (Koraput) and Government (Autonomous) College in Bhawanipatna (Kalahandi) each have 37 vacant posts.

They are followed by Government Degree College in Koraput and Rajendra (Autonomous) College in Balangir with 30 and 29 vacant posts respectively. The vacant posts are mostly in science departments — botany, zoology, physics and chemistry.

Higher education director Gangadhar Mishra said things would improve by the end of this year. “We will publish the provisional merit list for ad-hoc lecturer appointment in 624 posts by December 31. The SSB, which was defunct for the last 20 years, has been revamped and will take care of appointment of teachers in the aided colleges by inviting fresh applications. The selected candidates will fill up vacancies in the private institutions,” he said.