The state government will require an additional Rs 10,000 crore to fill all the existing vacancies in higher education institutions, Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan said Friday.
Narayan, also the higher education minister, was responding to a concern raised in the Legislative Council during Zero Hour by BJP MLCs S V Sankanur and N Ravikumar.
Several universities, including those in Dharwad, Mysuru and Bengaluru, lack staff. More than 19,000 teaching and 5,000 non-teaching positions vacant across universities.
"The universities are functioning mainly with the help of guest faculty. Ï urge this government to make health and education sectors their priority," Ravi Kumar urged.
Narayan, who acknowledged the persisting problem, said the government will have to fill 10,000 to 12,000 posts across all higher educational institutions, which would cost nothing less than Rs 10,000 crore. "Sourcing the finance for this is a challenge," he said.
JD(S) MLC Marithibbe Gowda also spoke about the pending honorarium to guest lecturers for over five months. Owing to the pandemic, they also risked losing their jobs, he said, demanding the government to retain all the guest lecturers who were recruited in the previous academic year, he said.
Narayan said the government was already in the process of settling the dues and would ensure that none of the guest lecturers lost their jobs.