[dropcap]T[/dropcap]HE Central Government today informed the Lok Sabha that the sanctioned faculty strength in the 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) was 8856, out of which 6043 were in position, while 2813 were vacant.
Of the 6043 faculty in position, only 149 were from Scheduled Castes (SC) and 21 from Scheduled Tribes (ST), the Minister for Human Resource Development (HRD) Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said.
The total sanctioned strength of non-faculty in IITs was 9465, of which 1125 posts were reserved for SCs and 520 for STs. Against this, 888 posts were filled by SCs and 275 by STs, the minister said.
Referring to the 31 National Institutes of Technology (NITs), the HRD minister informed the Lok Sabha that the sanctioned strength of faculty in NITs at present was 7413, out of which 721 were reserved for SCs and 380 for STs. Against this, 4202 faculty were in position, out of which, 404 were from SCs and 139 from STs.
The total sanctioned strength of non-faculty in NITs was 8163, out of which 1017 were reserved for SCs and 496 for STs. Against this, 3817 posts had been filled, out of which, 692 posts were filled by SCs and 317 by STs.
The minister said the onus to fill up the vacancies was on the IITs/NITs, which are autonomous bodies under Acts of Parliament. They had been requested to take steps to ensure that the vacancies were filled up at the earliest. IITs and NITs conduct special recruitment drives and advertisements for faculty and non-faculty posts on a regular basis for filling up of vacant positions, the HRD minister said.
The minister also added that there was no proposal to appoint students who had completed their PhD or MTech from IITs/NITs/IIITs in these posts.
