A recent report on the estimation of higher education quality in 2021-2022 found that a whopping 6,432 out of 12,799 sanctioned positions in colleges are vacant, and some of them have been so for years. The report also found that even though hundreds of technical positions are still vacant, only 186 senior associate positions and 480 lab technician positions are filled. Even the state of principals’ position is dire. Of the 292 sanctioned posts for principals, only 84 are filled.
Even Rajasthan University (RU), which is one of the best universities in the country, 525 out of 1061 teaching positions, that is almost half the positions, are vacant. Astonishingly, out of 61 sanctioned professorships, only three professors are currently serving in RU.
This means that colleges in Rajasthan have been understaffed and are functioning on only half of the staff actually required. With the Rajasthan state government running colleges on as low as 50 percent of the existing staff, the quality is of education in Rajasthan can be questioned. “Unless the government forms a task force for recruitment and begins recruiting soon after a specific number of sanctioned posts turn vacant, the situation would keep worsening,” said Puneet Sharma, a higher education expert.
A higher education official who requested to stay anonymous said “Linking the recruitment examinations to Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) to protect it from legal challenges has meant that recruitment takes a lot of time.” They also said that “The state is filling the gaps by deputing guest faculty members in its institutes. The report says that by January 2022, as many as 1,007 guest faculty members from different subjects have started teaching in the colleges.”