Bengal begins major drive to fill college vacancies

Many of the nearly 500 State Government-aided colleges are short of teachers, and some of them do not even have a full-time principal

Nearly 500 State Government-aided colleges across West Bengal are short of teachers. Representational image

West Bengal has initiated a major drive to quickly fill up vacancies in State Government-aided colleges, making the process mostly online in order to bring transparency.

It was in 2019 that appointments were last made by the West Bengal College Service Commission and even then, the updated vacancies had not been taken into account. As a result, many of the nearly 500 State Government-aided colleges across West Bengal are short of teachers, and some of them do not even have a full-time principal and are run by the senior-most professor.

On November 1, the Commission issued a notice to all State Government-run colleges, asking them to submit by January 31, 2023 their requisitions against vacancies that would exist as of December 31 this year. The requisitions are to be made on a special form available online.

“So far, colleges had made individual requisitions to the Commission, never sure if and when those vacancies would be filled. But this time there is a proper form which asks for many details, such as student strength in each subject, work load to justify the need of filling up the posts, etc.,” an associate professor at a Kolkata-based college told The Hindu.

“This is a significant step. The data will be in public domain — the number of vacancies as also the number of eligible candidates. This is likely to minimise the scope for any allegation of illegal appointments,” the teacher said.

The move is expected to create a win-win situation for all parties concerned— colleges will finally get to fill vacancies; eligible candidates will get jobs; and the State Government, under fire for charges of corruption in recruitment of school teachers, will generate employment ahead of the next general elections.

According to sources, there will also be dedicated portal soon for transfers in State-aided colleges. The portal will display names of the colleges with vacancies against which serving teachers can apply for general transfer. The move is expected to bring transparency to the process and prevent allegations of corruption.