82% of Teaching Posts Lie Vacant Across Bengaluru Public Universities

Public universities in Bengaluru are operating with severe staffing shortages, with 949 of 1,162 sanctioned teaching posts lying vacant across the city's institutions. The vacancy rate of nearly 82% was disclosed in data tabled in the Karnataka Legislative Council on Monday.

Several institutions in the city currently have no regular teaching faculty at all. Maharani Cluster University, Nrupathunga University, and Dr B R Ambedkar University, Bengaluru, have zero filled teaching positions despite having a combined sanctioned strength of 378 posts. Maharani Cluster University alone accounts for 272 sanctioned teaching posts without a single regular appointment, while Nrupathunga University has 100 vacant teaching posts.

Older and larger institutions are also facing significant deficits. Bangalore University has 113 permanent lecturers against 365 sanctioned posts, leaving 252 vacancies. Bengaluru City University has only nine permanent lecturers for 161 sanctioned positions, and Bengaluru North University has four filled posts against a sanctioned strength of 74, representing vacancy rates above 94% at both institutions.

Non-teaching and administrative cadres face similar shortfalls. Across seven Bengaluru universities listed in the data, 1,315 out of 1,717 sanctioned non-teaching positions remain unfilled. Bangalore University has 838 vacant non-teaching posts out of 1,176, while Bengaluru City University has filled only six of its 123 non-teaching posts. Maharani Cluster University has no regular staff for its 168 sanctioned non-teaching positions.

To maintain operations, universities across Bengaluru have engaged 770 guest lecturers and 925 outsourced non-teaching personnel. Bangalore University accounts for 250 of these lecturers and 467 outsourced staff, while Bengaluru City University employs 217 guest lecturers and 143 outsourced personnel.

Responding to MLC Nirani Hanamanth Rudrappa, Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddy stated that the state government is aware of the situation and has announced the rationalisation and phased recruitment of 1,000 teaching posts in public universities across Karnataka. Registrars of all 32 public universities in the state have been directed to assess essential vacancies and submit department-wise workload proposals for review before hiring begins.