Not enough profs at premier varsities
New Delhi: At a time when the University Grants Commission (UGC) has put on hold the appointment of teachers in all universities, it has come to light that Allahabad University, which is one of the largest universities in the country, is facing a 67 per cent shortfall of teachers, curiously Delhi University is providing 'quality education' without filling even 47 per cent teacher posts lying vacant.
These two premier varsities are not the only ones facing a scarcity of teachers, the situation is no different in other prestigious varsities such as Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) as both are grappling with a 21 per cent shortfall.
In reply to an RTI application, the Human Resource Development Ministry (HRD) has stated that out of total 852 sanctioned posts of professor, associate professor and assistant professor in Allahabad University, 570 posts are lying vacant. The varsity has just 282 posts of permanent teachers for 22,162 students, including 1,686 students pursuing PhDs in different streams.
The varsity has just ten professors out of total approved strength of 79 to run 44 departments. The varsity has 39 associate professors out of a total of 201 sanctioned posts, while it has 339 assistant professors out of the total approved strength of 572.
Similarly, Delhi University, which has recently bagged an eminence tag, is also struggling due to a lack of teachers. It is facing a shortage of 810 teachers as it has only 896 teachers out of total sanctioned strength of 1,706. The situation is rather grim in the most-sought-after varsity as out of total 264 sanctioned posts of professors, the DU has 107 teachers, and the remaining 157 posts are lying vacant for months.
Similarly, out of 648 sanctioned posts of associate professors, 412 posts are lying vacant, while in case of assistant professor the situation is little better as the university has 553 teachers out of the total strength of 794 posts, while 241 posts are lying vacant.
The availability of teachers in BHU and AMU is a shade better than other universities as out of the total strength of 1,930 posts of teachers, the varsity has 1,534 teachers, and the AMU has 1,283 teachers out of total sanctioned strength of 1,683 posts.
The UGC had banned teachers' appointment from July 18, and the HRD Ministry is yet to nix the contentious UGC order.
