The Tripura government has initiated steps to fill 325 vacant teaching posts in government colleges across the state, Higher Education Minister Kishor Barman informed the Tripura Legislative Assembly on Friday in response to a question raised by CPI(M) MLA Asoke Chandra Mitra.
According to the Minister, the state currently has 325 vacant teaching posts in government colleges. Of these, 243 vacancies are in general degree colleges, 26 in professional colleges, 46 in technical colleges and 10 in polytechnics.
"To address the shortage of teachers in general degree colleges, the Higher Education Department had sent a requisition to the Tripura Public Service Commission (TPSC) for recruitment to 201 Assistant Professor posts. The Commission has already completed the first phase of interviews and forwarded a list of 74 candidates for 14 subjects to the department", he said.
The Minister informed that the second phase of the interview process is currently underway and is expected to be completed shortly and following completion of the administrative formalities, appointment offers have been issued to selected candidates.
"In another significant step, the Finance Department has given its consent for the creation of 200 additional Assistant Professor posts for government degree colleges. Regular appointments against these posts will be made after the Higher Education Department receives the recommendations from TPSC for the respective subjects", he said.
Regarding professional colleges, Barman said the department is currently undertaking the process of amending the Recruitment Rules (RR) before filling the vacant posts. Approval from the Finance Department has also been sought to fill five Assistant Professor vacancies at Government Music College. After the RR amendment is completed, necessary steps will be taken to fill the remaining vacancies in professional colleges.
For technical education, the Minister said the Tripura Institute of Technology (TIT) is set to be transformed into the Tripura Government Technical University. The government will therefore undertake the process of filling the remaining vacancies after strengthening the institution's infrastructure in accordance with the Technical University Act.
Responding to another question from MLA Asoke Chandra Mitra, the Minister said Tripura currently has 41 government colleges under the Higher Education Department, comprising 29 general degree colleges, five professional colleges, six polytechnics and one technical college. These institutions together have 69,677 students and 797 regular college teachers.