32,114 Vacant Positions Filled in Higher Education Institutions, Reports Ministry of Education

The Ministry of Education has announced that a total of 32,114 vacant positions have been successfully filled through a Mission Mode recruitment initiative within Central Higher Education Institutions (CHEIs). This category encompasses Central Universities (CUs) and Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs), which include prestigious entities like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs). The recruitment drive has notably filled 18,757 faculty positions, reflecting a significant effort to address staffing shortages in these vital educational institutions. Among the filled positions, 3,851 belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC) category, 1,643 to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, 6,785 to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, and 1,191 to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category. The data highlights that within the faculty roles, there were 2,315 appointments from the SC category, 910 from ST, 3,986 from OBC, and 568 from EWS, showcasing the commitment to diversity and inclusion in faculty recruitment.

The information was disclosed by Dr. Sukanta Majumdar, the Minister of State for Education, during a session in the Rajya Sabha on July 29. This data pertains to recruitment activities conducted up until May 23, 2026, coinciding with the last Rozgar Mela. The Ministry has been actively encouraging CHEIs to address vacant and backlog positions through targeted recruitment drives. In August 2021, a directive was issued to all CHEIs to engage in a special recruitment initiative in Mission Mode aimed at filling vacancies, particularly those reserved for SC, ST, and OBC categories. Following this, in September 2022, the Ministry reiterated its call for institutions to expedite the filling of vacancies in a Mission Mode approach. By October 2025, CHEIs were instructed to finalize the recruitment of backlog vacancies under this initiative.