4,500 faculty positions still vacant in 23 IITs

Of the total 23 IITs, IIT Kharagpur has the highest number of faculty vacancies at 798, followed by IIT Madras at 482 vacant positions.

According to government data, there are more than 4,500 faculty positions lying vacant in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Of the total 23 IITs, IIT Kharagpur has the highest number of faculty vacancies at 798, followed by IIT Madras at 482 vacant positions, and IIT (ISM) Dhanbad with 446 vacancies. IIT Tirupati had the lowest vacancy with 15 vacant positions. 

The government recently shared this data in Parliament while responding to a question asked by BJP MP CM Ramesh. “Filling up of vacancies is a continuous process and IITs issue rolling advertisements, which are open throughout the year for all candidates…” stated the reply given by the Education Ministry.  

As per a report published in The Indian Express, IITs have often justified the slow recruitment process on the ground that the premier tech schools do not believe in compromising quality and that they rather keep positions vacant than hire someone mediocre.  

Can’t recruit so easily because of our standards: IITK Director 

IIT Kanpur Director Abhay Karandikar said, “We are making all efforts, but we cannot recruit so easily because of our (high) standards. All faculty candidates have to be PhD from reputed universities with some years of experience.” He said recruitment of faculty members also requires infrastructure development such as labs and housing facilities. 

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