The newly recruited assistant professors in Chhattisgarh’s various Government colleges would first receive mandatory appointment in tribal pockets of the State for a period of three years.
Chief Minister Raman Singh announced this while chairing a review meeting of Higher Education Department on Tuesday at the Mantralaya here. Singh also insisted upon the need for better training programmes for assistant professors and professors to improve the quality of higher education in the State. The Chief Minister expressed pleasure over increased number of admissions in Government colleges this year.
Compared to previous academic session (2012-13), the number of students enrolled in academic session 2013-14 has increased by nearly 15.3 per cent, it was informed in the meeting. During academic session 2013-14, the number of students enrolled in Government colleges was about 1.45 lakh. In the year 2013-14, the number of seats in Government colleges was increased by 3729 while in private colleges it was increased by 110.
Meanwhile, 26 new Government colleges and three new private colleges were also opened in the State. Moreover, 33 new subjects and departments have been commenced in various government colleges, it was informed in the meeting. The Chief Minister has also commended the Higher Education Department for issuing orders regarding free education of girls upto graduation-level, as per the announcement of the State Government.
He told the officials that on each working day, principals, professors and assistant professors in all the colleges should turn up on time and should stay at the campus till the end of duty hours. The Higher Education Department has already issued orders in this context, which should be sincerely complied with, Singh said.
The Higher Education Department has also constituted flying squads for inspection of Government colleges. The Chief Minister has directed the officials concerned to connect the selected colleges of the State through Wi-fi network. He said that the cases of appointment on compassionate grounds at Grade-III and Grade-IV posts in government funded colleges should be considered sympathetically.
Singh asked the officials to rationalise the colleges where number of students is less but the faculty available is more than required. He emphasised on the need of encouraging girls to pursue higher education and said that girls’ hostels should be operated in all major cities of the State for the purpose. In the colleges where number of students is in excess, necessary steps should be taken to conduct classes in two shifts.
In the meeting, department officials informed that under National Higher Education Campaign, action plan of Rs 2377 crores have been sent to Central Government after approval from State Higher Education Council. The Chief Minister in the meeting also deliberated upon various provisions of the action plan.
Higher Education Minister Prem Prakash Pandey, Advisor to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh, Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department, DS Mishra, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Tribal and Scheduled Caste Development Department NK Aswal, Secretary, Higher Education Department Dr Bl Agrawal, Secretary to Chief Minister Subodh Kumar Singh and other senior officials were also present in the meeting.