7K vacancies in central varsities

All posts of regular teachers, lying vacant in central universities and other higher education institutions funded by the Union government, will be filled up "within six months", Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank told Lok Sabha on Friday.

As many as 7,000 posts of teachers are lying vacant in central universities and other centrally funded higher education institutions.

"We will fill up all vacant posts of teachers on a war footing," the HRD minister said while replying to a debate on a bill, introduced in the ongoing session of Parliament for establishment of two central universities including a central tribal university in Andhra Pradesh.

The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was passed by the Lok Sabha by voice vote.

The HRD ministry will now take the bill to the Rajya Sabha for its consideration and passage.

The HRD minister said the passage of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Bill 2019 from Parliament recently has paved the way for starting the recruitment process.

"(Lok Sabha) members' concerns are genuine. How can an institution serve its purpose when it does not have enough teachers? Now, there is no legal hurdle. We will fill up all the vacancies at earliest," he added.

Responding to other points raised by the members during the debate, the HRD minister said that the government would make efforts to bring back Indians who are teaching in higher education institutions abroad.