Months after the University Grants Commission (UGC), for the seventh time since 2019, directed all colleges and universities to "take serious steps" to fill vacant faculty posts, a Right to Information (RTI) has revealed the magnitude of this crisis facing India's 46 central universities.
Despite the UGC's repeated diktats over years, nearly 27 percent of the 18,940 sanctioned teaching positions across central universities remain vacant. The numbers are far grimmer for reserved posts.
As of 1 July, over 38 percent of the teaching posts reserved for candidates from Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) remained vacant, according to the said RTI filed by Bihar-based social activist Kanhaiya Kumar with the UGC and accessed by The Quint.
Though Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) reservation was introduced in central universities five years ago, nearly 71 percent of the teaching posts under this category are yet to be filled.
As far as the non-teaching faculty posts go, over 47 percent (or 16,892 positions) remain vacant out of the total 35,640 sanctioned seats.
Half of Professor Posts Are Vacant: RTI Findings
All central universities have three levels of teaching faculty posts – professor, associate professor, and assistant professor. Within non-teaching faculty, it's categorised as Group A, Group B, and Group C.
The Quint's analysis using the RTI data provided till 1 July reveals:
Out of the 2,540 sanctioned posts for the role of a professor, nearly 55 percent (1,396) remain vacant.
While only 15.7 percent of posts under the assistant professor are yet to be filled, over 37 percent (1,909 out of 5,102) under the associate professor category are vacant.
Out of the 35,640 sanctioned non-teaching posts in central varsities, 47.4 percent (16,892) have not been filled up.
Under Group A, which includes posts like registrar, controller of examination, public relation officer (PRO) etc, there's a 40.3 percent vacancy.
While close to 40 percent of posts are vacant under Group B (personal assistant, estates officer), there's a 50.45 percent shortage in Group C category (stenographer, library assistant).
*Note: The data includes 45 universities across northeastern (NER) and non-northeastern universities (non-NER). The Sindhu Central University in Ladakh has nil sanctioned posts.
Calls and messages left with UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar went unanswered. The Quint has shared a questionnaire on factors leading to high vacancies among central universities. This story will be updated if/when we receive a response.
Meanwhile, speaking to India Today in July, Kumar had said,
"Faculty selection is often a complex and lengthy process, requiring universities to recruit teachers with the necessary expertise who may not be readily available. Having said that, some state universities have filled vacancies with contractual teachers who may not have the incentive to remain as committed to teaching and research as a regular faculty... As a regulatory body, we (UGC) can only remind and request universities to fill these positions."M Jagadesh Kumar to India Today
Meanwhile, in response to a question in the Lok Sabha in December 2023, former education minister Subhas Sarkar had said that vacancies in higher education institutions arose "due to retirement, resignation and additional requirement on account of enhanced students' strength."
Varsities Defy Reserved Quota Requirements: RTI
In 2019, the Parliament passed the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Bill, which provides for reservation of teaching positions in central educational institutions for persons belonging to SC, ST, OBC, and EWS.
As per the RTI data, among all the reservation groups, general category positions have the least vacancy share.
Overall, only 15.4 percent of teacher positions sanctioned under the general category were vacant, compared to 41.8 percent among OBC positions, 40.3 percent among ST positions and 32.1 percent among SC positions.
To put it simply, there are only 1,666 vacant posts out of 10,864 in the general category. However, if we total the social-based reserved categories (SC, ST, OBC), out of the 7,139 seats, 2,744 seats (38 percent) remain vacant.
In non-teaching post vacancies, there's a 47 percent vacancy in the general category, and 48 percent vacancy in the reserved seats. Half (1,011) of the 2,009 sanctioned posts under ST category remain vacant, while 43.1 percent of SC posts are yet to be filled up, data shows.
A close analysis by The Quint using the RTI findings show that all central universities defy quota corresponding to reserved seats.
As of 1 July 2024, 12.24 percent of the total sanctioned seats (18,940) in teaching posts are allocated to SCs, as opposed to the mandated 15 percent.
The share of total ST category is at 6.15 percent as opposed to the mandated 7.5 percent.
The share of total OBC faculty at any level (professor, associate professor and assistant professor) is at 19.2 percent, lower than the constitutionally mandated 27 percent. In 2023, it was 18.5 percent, and in 2022, it was 18 percent.
Speaking to The Quint, Kiran Kumar Gowd, a PhD research scholar at the Department of Political Science, University of Hyderabad, and national president, All India OBC Students Association, listed out three reasons leading to discrimination in central universities.
"First is during the allocation level, where the mandate of 27 percent (OBC), 15 percent (SC), and 7.5 percent (ST) has not been followed... The second kind of discrimination occurs at the notification level. There is the matter of notifying posts in accordance with prescribed rosters, but there is a trend of deviating from, withholding, or disregarding these rosters. Then comes the third level, which is that of an interview. Despite possessing all requisite qualifications and successfully navigating scrutiny, a situation arises where positions remain vacant as authorities cite the absence of suitable candidates, perpetuating systemic discrimination and exclusion."Kiran Kumar Goud
The Quint reached out to UGC Vice-Chairman Deepak Kumar Srivastava, Secretary Manoj Joshi and Joint Secretary Jitendra Tripathi via emails for a response on the RTI findings. This story will be updated if/when they respond.
In May 2023, the UGC had launched a portal called CU-Chayan to ensure that all vacancies for teaching positions are advertised by the universities on a single platform. The Hindu reported 47,154 profile creations as of January 2024, with states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal recording the highest number of applicants.
65% Teaching Posts Vacant in Odisha, DU Tops List
A state-wise split shows that 65 percent of the teaching positions were vacant in Odisha’s central universities — the highest among all states.
Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, and Delhi were a few other regions where more than one-third the seats were vacant. States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra had the least share of vacancies – 13 percent or less.
Among universities, Central University of Odisha once again topped the list. Out of the 154 posts, only 101 are yet to be filled up. The Dr Hari Singh Gour University in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi University, and University of Allahabad had over 40 percent of seats vacant.
In Delhi University, 747 (43.4 percent) of the 1,720 teaching seats are vacant.
Interestingly, only 11.6 percent of teaching positions sanctioned under the general category were vacant as compared to 54.4 percent among SC positions, 58 percent among ST positions and 66.8 percent among OBC positions.
The Quint reached out to DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Kumar as well as Chakradhar Tripathi, V-C of Central University of Odisha, via mail/texts to understand how they are managing with the shortage of staff. This story will be updated if/when they respond.
Seven Out of 10 Seats Under EWS Category Vacant: RTI
EWS reservation was first introduced in 2019 in central universities.
Though the constitutional mandate is 10 percent of the total sanctioned posts, RTI findings show that only 4.9 percent have been allocated to the EWS category as of 1 July 2024.
Seven out of 10 (over 71 percent) of the teaching faculty posts under this category are yet to be filled.
Out of the 124 EWS posts for the role of a professor, 120 (or 96.7 percent) remain vacant. While 94 percent of the associate professor post under this category is still vacant, only half the posts in the assistant professor category have been filled.
Of the 35 central universities with sanctioned EWS faculty posts, as many as 30, including Delhi University, University of Allahabad, and Banaras Hindu University (BHU), have failed to fill even a single position at the associate professor and professor level. This has led to about 340 faculty positions being left unfilled.
In November 2023, The Indian Express reported that the vacancy results from a contradiction between the UGC's eligibility criteria for teacher recruitment and the conditions for EWS quota in central government jobs laid down by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (DoPT).
While DoPT guidelines states that an applicant in the EWS category must have a total annual family income of less than or equal to Rs 8 lakh, the UGC says that a candidate applying for the role of a professor or associate professor should have worked as an assistant professor for at least eight years.
But the pay of an assistant professor with more than eight years of experience would exceed Rs 8 lakh annually.
"Getting an EWS certificate itself is difficult to apply for professor and associate professor levels. As per the guidelines, the family income including that of applicant is calculated while issuing a certificate. If you are already an assistant professor applying for associate professor, you will not be eligible for applying for under the EWS certificate in states and universities."Kiran Kumar Gowd
The Quint reached out to UGC via email regarding the contradiction in guidelines. We will update the story if/when they respond.
Gowd further said that the issue of vacancies across central universities in India are posing a "significant challenge" in higher educational institutions.
"The Ministry of Education should establish a high-level committee/board tasked with identifying various issues and a body which should actually recruit faculty members for universities. We should ensure that we are filling SC, ST, and OBC positions, and formulating an action plan to enhance diversity."