UGC initiates Operation Faculty Recharge

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has initiated a scheme called Operation Faculty Recharge for augmenting the research and teaching resources of universities to tackle the shortage of faculty in the university system.

So far, the UGC has recruited 163 faculty under this scheme, revealed Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani in a written reply to a question raised in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

She said that the UGC has also written to all central universities to give top most priority for identifying the causes for the vacancies and make concerted efforts to fill up the vacancies as per UGC norms, at an early date to ensure that the teaching work of the Universities is not affected.

In the UGC Regulations on Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and Other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the maintenance of standards in Higher Education 2010, under para 12.2, the UGC has clearly mentioned that all the sanctioned/approved posts in the university system shall be filled up on an urgent basis.

Different universities and colleges are adopting different methods/processes to address faculty shortages in order to ensure that studies of students are not affected. These include hiring ad-hoc faculty, appointing temporary faculty, engaging services of retired teachers and engaging visiting faculty etc.

While approving the Budget Estimates (Non-Plan) and Revised Estimates, the minister said that all central universities are have been exhorted by the UGC to fill up the teaching positions at the earliest.