Wanted: 6.89 lakh primary teachers

The country is facing a shortage of 6.89 lakh primary teachers and 5.30 lakh police personnel. According to M. Ramchandran, Minister of State, Home Affairs, while the total sanctioned strength of state police forces is 20.56 lakh, the actual strength is only 15.53 lakh. Uttar Pradesh Police is the worst off, with vacancies outnumbering the actual strength. While its total sanctioned strength is 3.68 lakh policemen, the actual number is merely 1,44,200. Most states facing a shortage of police personnel are also Naxalite-hit.

 Andhra Pradesh has a shortage of 20,340 policemen while Bihar has a shortage of 25,540. In Chhattisgarh, the sanctioned strength is 46,403 but the actual figure is only 32,979, leaving a shortage of 13,502 policemen. Jharkhand, on the other hand, has a shortage of 12,620 policemen. Even Delhi has a shortage of 7,102 policemen. Ramchandran says, "Even though strength of the police force is a state subject as per the Constitution of India, the Ministry of Home Affairs has raised its concern over large numbers of vacancies in state police forces."

Education also seems to be low on the Government's list of priorities. Though Kendriya Vidyalayas, Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and other Indian universities face a shortage of staff across the country, the shortage at the primary level is grave. Schools in India are short of of 6.89 lakh teachers. The Centre had given states permission to hire 18.89 lakh teachers by March 31, 2011 to spread primary education but so far only 12 lakh teachers have been appointed.

Minister of State, Human Resource Development, D. Purandeshwari, told the Lok Sabha recently that "recruitment of teachers, sanctioned under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), is undertaken by state governments. States have been advised to fill up all teaching vacancies expeditiously."

The record on teacher recruitment is abysmal across states. In Uttar Pradesh, there is a shortage of 1.40 lakh at the primary level while in Bihar it is 2.11 lakh. In Madhya Pradesh, the shortage of teachers stands at 72,980 while West Bengal needs 86,116 more teachers under ssa. Even Jharkhand is 20,745 teachers short while Maharashtra's primary teacher shortfall stands at 26,123.