Ahmedabad: Gujarat govt’s decision to add about 2,500 seats in govt engineering colleges has drawn concern from academic bodies amid an existing shortage of teaching staff. The Government Engineering Colleges Academic Gazetted Officers’ Association has called for immediate restructuring of faculty positions.
In 2022-23, the state increased the number of seats in robotics and automation, data science, ICT, and electronics and instrumentation branches. However, adequate teaching staff was not appointed or reassigned in several colleges after the expansion, the association said. It claimed that some students have completed, or are close to completing, their engineering courses without proper access to subject-specific faculty.
Under AICTE regulations, institutions introducing new courses are required to ensure adequate faculty, infrastructure and resources. The association said these requirements have not been fully met in several cases.
It also pointed to uneven distribution of resources, with some colleges admitting students despite a lack of faculty, while others have faculty members but low student intake. This, it said, has resulted in academic and financial inefficiencies.
The association said that even after four years, no concrete steps have been taken to allocate workload or appoint teaching and non-teaching staff for the new branches. Moreover, decisions on transfer requests submitted by faculty members through an online portal in 2025 are yet to be taken.
Concerns have also been raised over delays in handling sensitive transfer cases, including those related to medical issues, spouse postings, and long-distance service. Faculty bodies have urged the govt to complete faculty restructuring before the next admission cycle to avoid further academic loss.
