Bhubaneswar: The state government Wednesday accepted in the State Assembly that it currently suffers from a shortage of staggering 1824 vacancies in government colleges and government-aided colleges in the state.
As per the information tabled by the state government before the house, it was stated that there are 499 such colleges in the state and there are 6,364 staff strength that has been sanctioned by the government. However it has only 4,540 persons in place and all other positions are left vacant for months.
The statement submitted by the education department in the State Assembly claimed that against the total strength of 6,364 a total of 1824 are still vacant which is said to be affecting the whole educational system in colleges aided and supported by the government. The date is said to be upto February 1, 2019.
The districts which suffer the most in terms of quantum of staff shortage include-Cuttack (258), Kendrapara (201), Balasore (147), Ganjam (115) and Jajpur (110). However, the district which reported the least number of vacancies were-Malkangiri (2), Kandhamal (5), Kalahandi (5) and Nuapada (7).
The information was furnished by higher education minister Arun Sahoo before the house Wednesday. The minister assured that the vacancies will be filled up soon. He also informed the house that universities are now given autonomy for recruitment of staff to ensure early and timely filling of the teaching staff including lecturers and other teachers.
The minister also said that special attempts were also taken to chip in with guest lecturers in government colleges to fill the void so that education of students is not hampered. The minister also said that in government-run colleges, recruitment of 407 teaching staff is done between 2014-15 and 2017-18 and on the other hand, recruitment of a total of 1625 teaching staff in government-aided colleges was done in 2016-17.
PNN