IIT dilemma: 3,500 vacancies filled since 2022 but faculty-student ratio stays unclear

The Centre told the Lok Sabha that more than 3,500 faculty vacancies were filled across the 23 IITs since September 2022. The reply, however, did not disclose the current faculty-student ratio at individual IITs.The Centre told the Lok Sabha that more than 3,500 faculty vacancies were filled across the 23 IITs since September 2022. More than 3,500 faculty vacancies have been filled across India’s 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) between September 2022 and May 2026, the Centre has told the Lok Sabha.The recruitment was carried out under a “mission mode” drive launched to tackle faculty shortages. However, the latest parliamentary response does not provide the current faculty-student ratio for individual IITs or a five-year breakdown of sanctioned, filled and vacant posts.That gap matters because an earlier government response had put the prescribed faculty-to-student ratio at 1:10. Simply filling vacancies does not establish whether individual IITs are now meeting that benchmark.3,500 POSTS FILLED, BUT THE PICTURE IS STILL INCOMPLETEThe latest response came after Congress MP Sashi Tharoor sought details on faculty strength across the IIT system. His questions covered the prescribed faculty-student ratio, the actual ratio at each IIT, permanent and visiting faculty numbers, and sanctioned, filled and vacant positions over the past five years. He also asked what was being done to encourage doctoral alumni to join IITs as permanent faculty and whether long-serving visiting or ad-hoc teachers could be moved into permanent roles.The Ministry of Education said faculty recruitment is a “continuous process”. Vacancies arise because of retirements and resignations, while new posts may also be created as student enrolment and academic programmes expand. IITs, it added, issue rolling advertisements throughout the year to recruit faculty.VISITING FACULTY ALSO PART OF THE MIXAccording to the Centre, around 460 visiting faculty members are currently involved in teaching and academic activities across the IIT system.IITs also use guest, adjunct and visiting faculty, as well as Professors of Practice, to supplement teaching and bring professional and industry experience into classrooms.The IIT Council has discussed measures including rolling and special recruitment drives, hiring eligible foreign faculty and overseas citizens of India, institutional performance reviews and regular monitoring of recruitment.THE 1:10 QUESTIONThe faculty shortage is not new. An August 2022 parliamentary response recorded 4,596 vacant teaching positions across the 23 IITs, providing the backdrop to the subsequent mission mode recruitment drive.An earlier Lok Sabha response in August 2025 said faculty posts were sanctioned on the basis of a 1:10 faculty-to-student ratio, subject to periodic review according to institutional requirements.The latest reply, however, does not show whether that ratio is being achieved at each IIT.THE OLD SHORTCUT TO A BIGGER FACULTY POOLThe faculty-student ratio has been debated for years. In 2016, the IIT Council accepted a proposal to count five PhD scholars as equivalent to one faculty member for calculating the ratio, recognising that doctoral scholars also teach undergraduate students.At the time, IITs had around 26,000 PhD scholars, potentially adding about 5,000 faculty-equivalent positions to the calculation.The latest recruitment figures show substantial progress, but the unanswered question remains: how many faculty members and students does each IIT have today, and where does the actual ratio stand?- EndsPublished By: Princy ShuklaPublished On: Aug 11, 2026 10:34 IST