Recruitment to Vacant Posts in State Public Universities and Aided Colleges to Speed Up

Vipul Vaidya

Mumbai: Filling vacant teaching and non-teaching positions in non-agricultural public universities and aided colleges across Maharashtra will help improve the quality of higher education under the implementation of the New Education Policy (NEP). Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gave a positive response to the recruitment of vacant posts in state public universities and aided colleges. Additionally, 100% recruitment has been approved in government-aided engineering institutions. The Chief Minister also directed that the staffing structure for teaching and non-teaching positions in non-agricultural universities be finalized at the earliest.

CM Fadnavis made these remarks during a review meeting held at Mantralaya to assess various issues related to the Higher and Technical Education Department. The meeting also discussed long-pending demands of universities. Present at the meeting were Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, Additional Chief Secretary Venu Gopal Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary of the Finance Department O.P. Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary (Planning) Rajgopal Deora, Vice-Chancellor of Lakshminarayan Innovative Technological University Dr. Atul Vaidya, Director of Higher Education Shailendra Deolankar, Director of Technical Education Vinod Mohitkar, Director of Libraries Ashok Gadekar, and other senior officials.

CM Fadnavis stated that the number of technological universities in the state is low, and it is essential to operate these institutions at full capacity. This would result in better opportunities for students and improved academic quality. He directed that 105 teaching posts and one teaching-equivalent post at Lakshminarayan Innovative Technological University be approved. The university has also been granted ₹8 crore for administrative and day-to-day expenses, similar to other state universities.

Further approvals granted include: Recruitment for 788 teaching posts, Recruitment for 2,242 non-teaching posts, Filling 5,012 assistant professor posts in aided colleges under the Directorate of Higher Education, and

100% recruitment in institutions such as VJTI (Mumbai) and Shri Guru Gobind Singh Engineering College, Nanded, and other government-aided engineering colleges. Additionally, a revised staffing structure of 603 posts for Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University has also been approved.

Special Incentive Grants for Public Libraries

Chief Minister Fadnavis approved a proposal to increase library grants by 40%, and directed that the proposal be immediately sent to the Finance Department. Libraries in categories A, B, C, and D will be reviewed, and upgradation in category status has been approved in principle. A proposal for the necessary additional funding will be submitted to the Finance Department.

CM Fadnavis also instructed officials to submit a proposal to grant government recognition to new libraries in place of the 1,706 libraries whose recognition was previously canceled. Moreover, public libraries that have completed 50, 75, or 100 years will be granted special incentive assistance.

Proposal to Establish a Science and Technology Department in Maharashtra

Chief Minister Fadnavis emphasized that science and technology are the need of the hour, as technology is being used in all sectors. He noted that many states in India already have dedicated science and technology departments. He suggested studying the functioning of such departments in other states and drafting a blueprint to establish a Science and Technology Department in Maharashtra.