‘AP Govt to fill 3,371 university faculty posts within three months’

The Andhra Pradesh government will fill 3,371 vacant faculty posts in universities across the state within the next three months, Education and IT Minister Nara Lokesh announced in the Legislative Council on Wednesday. He said the coalition government has decided to issue a fresh recruitment notification after resolving legal hurdles that stalled earlier attempts to fill the vacancies.

Responding to a question raised by MLC Borra Gopimurthy, the minister informed the House that thousands of teaching positions remain vacant in universities statewide, affecting the functioning of higher education institutions.

Lokesh said previous governments had issued recruitment notifications in 2018 and 2023, but the process failed to move forward. In particular, the 2023 notification was struck down due to improper implementation of vertical and horizontal reservation policies, following which the recruitment process came to a halt.

To resolve the legal complications, the government has already held three rounds of discussions with the Additional Advocate General (AAG) and decided to issue a fresh notification soon. The minister expressed confidence that the recruitment process would be completed on a war footing within three months once the legal issues are cleared.

The minister also alleged that certain politically motivated appointments were made during the previous government’s tenure, which created confusion regarding staffing requirements in universities. To address this issue, the government is considering conducting a comprehensive manpower audit to accurately assess faculty and staff needs in higher education institutions.

Lokesh further stated that the government is positively examining the possibility of granting weightage to contract employees during the recruitment process. However, he added that the government is seeking legal advice to ensure that such provisions do not lead to fresh legal disputes. He also noted that a Group of Ministers (GoM) has been constituted to examine proposals related to age relaxation, and a decision will be taken after detailed deliberations.

Highlighting the government’s recent achievements, Lokesh recalled that after coming to power, the administration completed the DSC recruitment process within a record 150 days and filled 16,000 teacher posts. He emphasized that the government is now taking university faculty recruitment with the same seriousness.

The minister reaffirmed that the government is committed to strengthening the higher education sector, introducing reforms, and reinforcing administrative structures, including the higher education commissionerates, to improve governance and academic standards in the state’s universities.