NEW DELHI: As many as 3,874 teaching positions earmarked for candidates from historically-marginalised Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (SC, ST, OBC), as well as the economically weaker sections and the disabled, are vacant in central universities, the education ministry told Lok Sabha on Monday. Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Delhi University (DU) – both run by the union government – have the highest number of vacancies.

The education ministry also told parliament that of the total 549 reserved teaching posts are vacant because the universities declared “none-found suitable during the last five years ” for not recruiting. Five central universities have cited this reason for vacant reserved posts, including Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and University of Hyderabad (UoH).

The question was asked by Dharmendra Kashyap, MP for Aonla, Uttar Pradesh. He is also a member of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

In a written response, the ministry of education also informed 1,471 faculty posts have been filled across central universities between September 2021 and February 2023.

Also read | Over 12,000 teaching posts in KVs, 4,425 in IITs, 6,180 in central universities vacant: Govt

Delhi University, BHU highest vacancies

As per the data shared in the parliament, Banaras Hindu University has the highest number of vacant teacher positions amongst all categories with 576 vacant posts – 108 for Dalits; 81 for tribal candidates; 311, OBC; 53, EWS; and 23 for PWD candidates. It is followed by DU with 526 reserved category vacancies – 123 SC, 61 ST, 212 OBC, 86 EWS and 44 PWD positions.

Delhi University and BHU also have the highest numbers of vacancies for reserved categories at the associate professor level – 299 at DU and 228 at BHU.

Other universities include University of Allahabad; Visva Bharati University; and Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University had over 200 vacancies each. The five central universities with the most vacancies in the reserved categories are listed in the table below.

5 universities with most vacant reserved teaching posts

Also read | UGC has ‘no proposal’ to absorb ad-hoc teachers: Education Ministry

Teachers Vacancies: ‘None found suitable’

Among universities that have been recruiting professors, associate and assistant professors for the reserved categories for the past five years, University of Hyderabad has the highest number of vacant positions. The university has 74 SC, 66 ST and 14 OBC teachers posts vacant as they did not find the right candidate.

Other universities that have been recruiting but have vacant reserved posts include JNU; Central University of Karnataka; BHU; and Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya. They claimed they didn’t find suitable candidates for the post.

The vacancies in institutions to declare “none found suitable” are listed below.

Teacher vacancies at central universities to declare ‘none-found suitable’