Patna: If all goes as planned, faculty-starved colleges and universities across the state are likely to get more than 12,000 teachers of different categories soon.Sources said the Bihar State University Service Commission (BSUSC) would advertise the posts and begin the recruitment process once the draft statute for appointment of assistant professors receives the chancellor’s approval and reservation rosters for vacant posts of assistant professors, associate professors and professors are cleared by the higher education department.The revised appointment process for assistant professors envisages the introduction of a written test in addition to the interview.According to official estimates, nearly 5,000 posts of assistant professors in different subjects across the state’s 13 conventional universities have fallen vacant since the recruitment process against 4,638 posts began in 2020. In addition, more than 1,000 posts of associate professors and professors have remained vacant in different universities for nearly four decades, as no direct appointments have been made to these positions during the period.Earlier, these senior posts were filled through personal promotions under various promotion statutes, including the University Grants Commission’s career advancement scheme.More recently, the state govt created 6,656 posts of assistant professors in 16 core subjects for 208 newly established colleges at the block level. All these posts, except the superior positions, are expected to be advertised together by the BSUSC to facilitate the smooth functioning of higher education institutions.Lok Bhawan sources said the draft statute relating to the selection of assistant professors has already been cleared by the universities and is awaiting final approval from the education department. It will then be placed before the chancellor’s statutory draft committee for final clearance.However, approval of reservation rosters has been delayed due to procedural issues in some universities. Higher education director N K Agrawal said some universities are yet to obtain approval of their reservation rosters from the respective divisional commissioners. As a result, the department has not been able to compile the exact number of vacancies subject-wise. “But all these problems would be sorted out soon,” he added.BSUSC chairman Girish Kumar Chaudhary said the commission would advertise the vacancies as soon as they are received through the state govt. Girish said appointments to senior posts would be made through interviews, while assistant professors would be selected through a written test and interview.BSUSC’s chairman Girish Kumar Chaudhary pointed out that the commission would advertise the vacancies as soon as they are received from the universities through the state government. While appointments on superior posts would be made directly on the basis of interview as per the newly approved statutes for the appointment of associate professors andprofessors, the appointment of assistant professors would be made on the basis of written test and interview, he said.basant.pu@gmail.com
