The Ministry of Education provided an update on posts and vacancies in Central Higher Education Institutions (CHEIs) including Central Universities and Centrally Funded Technical Institutions such as IITs and NITs. These autonomous institutions conduct faculty recruitment internally according to their respective Acts and Regulations, with recruitment powers vested in their respective Boards of Governors/Executive Committees/Boards of Management.
Vacancies occur continuously due to promotion, retirement, resignation, death, opening of new institutions, new schemes or projects, and additional requirements from enhanced student strength and capacity expansion. The Ministry initiated special mission mode recruitment drives in August 2021, September 2022, and October 2025 to fill backlog vacancies, particularly focusing on Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
As of May 23, 2026, CHEIs have filled a total of 32,114 posts through mission mode recruitment, including 3,851 SC, 1,643 ST, 6,785 OBC, and 1,191 Economically Weaker Section (EWS) positions. Faculty positions accounted for 18,757 of these appointments, with specific breakdowns of 2,315 SC, 910 ST, 3,986 OBC, and 568 EWS faculty members.
PhD admissions at CHEIs vary across admission cycles based on faculty supervisor availability, departmental requirements, and funding support. The number of PhD positions fluctuates with institutional faculty strength, as new faculty create additional research supervision capacity while departing faculty's research scholars are reassigned to other eligible supervisors. PhD enrollment has shown significant growth, increasing from 117,301 students in 2014-15 (per AISHE Report) to 343,559 students in 2023-24, representing a growth of 192.89%.
This information was formally presented by Dr. Sukanta Majumdar, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.