Shimla, August 8
The Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, today admitted that about
7800 posts of teaching and non-teaching staff were vacant in the
Education Department as on March 31, 2005, but asserted that the
government was finding it difficult to fill the posts because of
unending litigation by vested interests.

The issue was raised by Mr I.D.Dhiman, a former Education Minister,
in the Vidhan Sabha today during question hour. The Chief Minister
said certain people had a vested interest in getting the process for
filling the posts stalled as they did not want the government to get
credit for it. They move the court on one pretext or the other. He
said the state did not agree with the High Court's view that
selection for admission to the JBT training course be carried out
purely on the basis of written examination as those selected were
given employment after completion of training. If jobs were to be
given without an interview there was no need to have a public service
commission.

There was also a stay on the recruitment of college lecturers as
result of which the government was forced to deploy teachers purely
on a temporary basis through the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). He
rejected the criticism of the BJP on this account and said if
appointments were not made through the PTA teaching in colleges would
have suffered.

In a written reply the Chief Minister informed Mr Satpal Satti of the
BJP that Punjab Technical University had withdrawn the permission
granted for four courses as a distance education centre to the
Shoolini Institute of Life Sciences and Business Management, Solan ,
after it published a misleading advertisement. Earlier it was
functioning as a distance education centre of the Narinder Dev
University of Agriculture and technology (NDUAT).

As against the fees of Rs 25,000 fixed by the NDUAT for B.Tech,
biotechnology, the institute charged Rs 70,000 for the 2004-05
session. Similarly, for M.Sc, biotechnology Rs 75,000 was charged
whereas the university had fixed the fees at Rs 15,000. For the MBA
course the fee fixed by the university ranged between Rs 12,000 and
Rs 25,000 but the institute charged Rs 65,000. Besides tuition fees
the institute also charged development fund, equipment fee, health
care fee, students welfare fund, placement fee, library, magazine,
guest faculties and amalgamated fund, Internet fee and house tests
and reading material fee.