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In the 16 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), approximately 42% faculty positions in the IITs are vacant, said Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for Human Resource Development.
Further, almost half of faculty positions in National Institutes of Technology (NITs) are vacant. Giving this information in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today, Tharoor said that to mitigate current shortages, these institutes are engaging faculty on contract and visiting faculty.
Tharoor said that the main reason for these shortages, is that while the minimum qualification for faculty recruitment in these institutes is a Ph.D, many of the students after completion of their B.Tech/ M.Tech programmes, get placements in companies/ corporations and do not opt for the teaching profession. There are 16 IITs and 30 NITs in the country at present.
The IITs plan suitable strategies to attract and retain quality faculty members, said Tharoor.
"To achieve this, IITs will do year-round open advertisements, holding of selection committee meetings through video conferencing, invitation to alumni, scientists, faculty from India and abroad to reach out to potential candidates, advertisements in international journals to attract the attention of professionals abroad, and introducing young faculty award, etc," he said.
The government has decided to allow faculty working under the Central Government or Central Autonomous Bodies, to join the newly set up Central Education Institutes on long-term deputation, for a period of 10-years.
The institutes are also free to appoint Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) to permanent faculty position.
