Recruitment of teachers in government-aided Sanskrit institutions in Uttar Pradesh remains in limbo, with the state yet to designate an agency to conduct appointments against more than 1,300 vacant posts.
The prolonged delay in regular recruitment has raised concerns over vacancies and continuity of teaching in Sanskrit institutions, even as the government has introduced measures, including scholarships, to promote Sanskrit education. However, there is no clear recruitment mechanism currently for appointing regular teachers. Similarly, recruitment of teachers in government-aided Sanskrit colleges was entrusted to the Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Service Commission (UPHESC). Both the selection board and the higher education commission were subsequently merged with the UPESSC. Officials in both the higher education and secondary education departments declined to comment, saying the matter required a decision at the state government level.
The state has 403 government-aided Sanskrit colleges and 570 government-aided secondary Sanskrit schools. The uncertainty has persisted since the Uttar Pradesh Secondary Education Service Selection Board (UPSESSB), which was authorised to recruit teachers for aided Sanskrit schools in 2018, was merged with the newly constituted, Prayagraj-headquartered Uttar Pradesh Education Service Selection Commission (UPESSC) in 2023. Under amendments notified on March 28, 2018, the state had entrusted the selection of teachers in government-aided Sanskrit schools to the Secondary Education Service Selection Board.
“Regular teachers should be appointed in government-aided Sanskrit institutions if the government genuinely wants to promote Sanskrit studies,” said former MLC and state president of the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh, Suresh Kumar Tripathi.
