State moves to fill lecturer vacancies in colleges

Congress member Pragya Satav first brought up the large number of vacancies and delays in recruitment. She said that many teaching posts had remained unfilled for several years, adversely affecting the quality of higher education in the state

NAGPUR: The government has begun taking steps to fill the hundreds of posts of lecturers and assistant professors lying vacant in universities and colleges across the state, said higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil at the legislative council on Saturday.

Mumbai, India. Dec 05, 2025 - Teachers across Mumbai held a protest at the Education Department office in Chembur against the implementation of the state government's new Sanch Manyata policy for teacher appointments.Mumbai, India. Dec 05, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Raju Shinde)

Congress member Pragya Satav first brought up the large number of vacancies and delays in recruitment. She said that many teaching posts had remained unfilled for several years, adversely affecting the quality of higher education in the state.

Responding to her concerns, Patil said that a government resolution issued on October 3, 2018, had approved filling up 40%, or 3,580, assistant professor posts in aided colleges, privately run institutions that receive government funding. Of these, 3,086 posts have already been filled, while 494 posts remain vacant. Patil added that the recruitment process for the remaining posts is currently underway.

The minister admitted that, as of October 1, 2017, as many as 12,918 assistant professor posts were vacant in aided, non-government colleges where vacancies were calculated based on student enrolment. He said that the finance department has since approved the appointment of 5,012 assistant professors to posts that fell vacant between 2018 and 2024.

Patil informed the house that, through an order issued on August 7, 2019, the government had also approved filling up to 80% of academic vacancies in public universities. The finance department has also been asked to sanction appointments to 85% of academic posts, he added.

School teachers’ issue

Nearly 600,000 school teachers in the state are facing uncertainty following a recent Supreme Court ruling that requires them to clear the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) to remain eligible as teachers in the state. At the council, the matter was raised by Congress members Rajesh Rathod, Abhijit Wanjari and Sudhakar Adbale, among others, who said the verdict had put thousands of teachers’ jobs at risk. Teachers’ and headmasters’ unions have also urged the state government to challenge the ruling.

Replying to the debate, minister of state for school education, Pankaj Bhoyar, said that, in line with the Supreme Court’s order, all teachers who have not cleared the TET and who have five or more years of service remaining will be required to appear for and pass the examination. The TET, which is a qualifying exam mandated under the Right to Education (RTE) Act to assess basic teaching eligibility, is conducted twice a year.

Bhoyar said that, based on legal advice, an appeal against the verdict may not stand in court. However, he added that the department would examine how other states have dealt with similar situations and on what grounds they have sought relief from the apex court.