Punjab Higher Education Crisis: Over 42% Teaching Posts Vacant, College Teachers Flag Unpaid Salaries and Allowances

DURING THE MONSOON SESSION of the Punjab Assembly, leaders from the opposition party, Congress, raised issues related to the shortage of teachers and delays in salary payments by the state. They asked about the situation of the higher education sector in the state. In response, Higher Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains explained to the House the challenges currently facing Punjab's education system.

He told the House about the staffing situation in the government colleges of the state. During earlier sessions, while replying to Congress MLA Kuldeep Singh Dhillon, the minister explained that among the 5,686 sanctioned posts for professors and assistant professors, at least 2,424 are currently vacant. This accounts for more than 42% of professor and assistant professor posts across the 13 state universities and 64 degree colleges.

During that session, MLA Dhillon raised concerns about the situation in government colleges, saying that 64 colleges are functioning with the support of guest faculty and part-time staff. He highlighted the presence of 760 guest faculty members and 100 part-time teachers, saying that the colleges have a severe shortage of professors.

As per reports by The Tribune, the situation is also difficult in the 130 non-government aided colleges of Punjab. The staff there suffers from problems such as unpaid salaries, frozen allowances, and a long gap in the regular recruitment process. These non-government aided colleges have 3,000 regular teachers serving two lakh students, while the 64 government colleges, which have more than 77,000 students, depend largely on ad-hoc teaching arrangements.

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Punjab Teachers’ Salaries and Allowances

The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) has questioned the delayed salary payments and raised concerns over the issue. As per The Tribune report, representatives of the union said that salary bills worth around Rs 73 crore for the period from March to June 2026 are still not cleared.

The vice-chancellors of universities and state officials have pointed towards regulatory issues and legal complications. College faculties, however, say that the lack of salaries and continued neglect are affecting the quality of education. The Tribune mentioned that some teachers have expressed their struggles over the issue while requesting anonymity.

A teacher at Kamla Nehru College for Women, Phagwara, affiliated with Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, said, “We have not received increments for seven years. DA has been frozen since last year. We are no longer fighting for the Seventh Pay Commission; we are fighting for regular monthly salaries.”

Another teacher said, “When basic survival becomes the daily priority, quality education naturally takes a back seat.”

An assistant professor at PMN College, Rajpura, Professor Gurjinder Singh, who is also affiliated with Punjabi University, Patiala, said that teachers appointed against unaided posts continue to receive an average salary of Rs 25,000 a month. According to him, all the duties of these teachers are the same and the recruitment criteria are also the same as those for aided posts.

He pointed out that while everything is similar, the salaries remain different. He said that even after repeatedly seeking a wage revision, nothing changes. As quoted by The Tribune, he said, “Even a kulcha vendor earns more than us.”

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Punjab College Managements Allege Delay in Govt Grants

According to college managements, delays in government grants have created a serious cash-flow crisis. SM Sharma, general secretary of the Non-Government Aided Colleges Management Federation of Punjab and Chandigarh, said that salary grants have been delayed since February 2026 and mentioned that while some colleges are managing, many colleges cannot simply pay higher pay scales without timely funding from the government.

He added, “We can only advise institutions; we cannot compel them.”

As per reports, the Punjab government releases a total of Rs 300 crore annually in salary grants to non-government aided colleges. The Tribune mentioned that teachers alleged that while colleges commit to paying UGC-prescribed salaries, these commitments are often ignored and not followed.

The Punjab government has also not paid the pending Dearness Allowance (DA) and Dearness Relief (DR) to its employees and pensioners, which the court ordered should be paid within 15 days on August 3, 2026.

While the state is facing all these challenges under the Aam Aadmi Party government, the Punjab Assembly elections are just around the corner. The elections in Punjab are scheduled to take place in 2027, and political tensions in the state are visible.

(Edited by Harsh Pandey)

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