The Election Commission of India (ECI) has approved the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in institutions across Maharashtra. The Hindu had reported on March 27 that 3,580 posts of assistant professors in 11 non-agricultural universities had not been filled as the model code of conduct had come into force.
In a directive to the State Chief Electoral Officer on April 12, the ECI gave the go-ahead for filling up 870 posts, including 703 posts in 89 colleges, which had been advertised before the announcement of polls, and 167 posts in 29 colleges, which had not been advertised. The ECI, however, said that the list of recruited staff can be declared only after the last phase of voting in the State on April 29.
The State government on November 3 had sanctioned the filling up of 3,580 of the 8,949 vacant posts. Kushal Mude, convener, All India NET and SET Teachers Organisation, said the recruitments should be kept out of the purview of the model code of conduct as it is a routine procedure and has no bearing on the electoral process. Of the 10,107 vacant posts among teaching and non-teaching staff, only 4,738 were sanctioned to be filled up by the State.
Mr. Mude said that his organisation was worried that the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the State would delay the long-drawn-out recruitment process. He also said that the teacher-student ratio mismatch had led to a fall in the quality of higher education.
