Nearly 1200 graduates from colleges like IITs and NITs are hired to teach in 53 state-run engineering colleges in backward areas across 11 states and Union Territories. This move is a part of the Technical Education Quality Improvement Project (TEQIP-III) for improving the quality of engineering graduates at the cost of Rs 2,300 crore. It is a three-year project and will continue till 2020.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar added, ‘This is the first time such a measure has been taken to improve the quality of education in backward areas. With the initiative, more than one lakh engineering students will benefit with better quality education.’

The students selected to teach will be paid Rs 70,000 per month with the government spending approximately Rs 375 crore for the move.

The HRD minister informed that 60% of the teaching stuff was incomplete as no qualified teachers were applying for jobs in these colleges. ‘A public appeal was given to M Tech and PhD students from the premier institutions to work in the backward areas and serve the nation. There was an overwhelming response to the call and more than 5,000 highly-qualified persons applied,’ the minister said.

86 % of 1,225 teachers are from premier institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) with 24% of them holding PhDs.

Out of the total teachers, 301 will head to 11 institutes in Rajasthan, 210 to Bihar, 194 to Madhya Pradesh and 191 to Jharkhand.

Faculty will join educational institutes in other states that include Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

(With inputs from PTI)