75% teaching posts in Gujarat engineering colleges vacant

Teaching posts are lying vacant in 16 government engineering colleges and 26 polytechnics of Gujarat for long. In spite of repeated demands by several authorities and protests, the posts of professor, assistant professor and lecturer, among others, are vacant since last 10 years.

Revealing this, Congress spokesperson and Gujarat University syndicate member Manish Doshi said, "Around 75% of the teaching posts are vacant in government degree institutions and 69% in diploma institutions. For the past 10 years, the students are facing difficulty due to this."

Doshi said while the percentage of vacant posts of principals in government engineering colleges in 2003 was 33%, by 2011 the figure had risen to 75%. Similarly, the vacant posts of lecturers in 2003 were 50% which increased to 73% by 2011.

Vacancies in polytechnics of the state in 2002 were 37%, which increased to 84% in 2011. Also, 41% vacant posts of lecturers in 2002 increased to 69% in 2011.

According to Doshi the government is showing little interest in this matter which has resulted in the current crisis. The government was more involved in advertisements and celebrations, wasting crores of rupees, he alleged. 

He said recruitment of lecturers in government colleges is vital. Posts of laboratory assistants and librarians had also been vacant for long, he added.