The Technical Education Quality Improvement Program was associated with the World Bank in phase 3. Then 1500 faculty members, mainly from the NIT and IIT, were joined through a meticulous selection process. The process was going through by the Education Ministry for three years in 2018 January in 12 states, 72 rural Universities, and colleges. The aim was mainly to impart quality education to around 1 lakh students of Engineering in low-income states. An MoU was signed between the state government and an MoE, which was post-projected that will be absorbed and retained all else unchanged. The other terms and conditions related to financial support will also be followed accordingly by the state governments.

Now the project is expiring on March 31, 2021. Initially, it was September 2020 where we were given an extension of six months, but there was no effort by any party for absorbing or retaining them. Consequently, they are on the verge of being unemployed after March 31. Most of them are not sure of the part-time Ph.D. by the central Government at NIT and the research paper. They are working as a principal investigator under the collaborative research scheme as said by the assistant professor Ansul Aswathy of Ujjain Engineering College (UEC) an MTech from NIT Surat.

Shortage Of The Acute Faculty

All the Academics who have qualified GATE as the prerequisite for the selection wonder what will be their fate after putting in 3.5 years to improve the standard of education in the rural belt. The assistant professor of IT in MLV Textile and Engineering College Bhilwara Rajasthan, Amarjeet Jharia, said that only two regular faculties are working in the IT Department apart from four TEQIP faculty which were recruited for teaching 240 students. Almost 60% seats were empty in all the states of Engineering Colleges where TEQIP faculty are employed. These positions will remain open until all the colleges conduct Fresh recruitments.

In Dire Straits

The TEQIP was implemented in three phases, of which faculty were hired in the third phase on March 31, 2017-2021. All the faculties are performants since they were retained for 03 years and given increments. Both engineering colleges and national project implementation units could terminate their job in case of unsatisfactory performance. To be thrown out at this crucial stage will lead to financial and mental loss. Most of the faculties can be overridden by the time the project ends, making it difficult to apply for the post of Assistant Professor at reputed institutes like the NITs.

The Plans Of Sustainability

Once the project comes to an end, the faculty's payment will stop since there will not be any financing from the World bank. However, the Ministry of Education's continuous efforts is being made to convince state governments to prepare sustainability plans. Some state governments have offered the faculty continuation on lesser honorarium as contractual or guest faculty. The Ph.D. program of candidates will continue without any impediments. The faculty is appointed on contractual basis for the project period. It is not a permanent faculty posting; it is against any vacancy. The objective was to make the institutes eligible for accreditation under their achievement standard student-faculty ratio. The MoU was signed for the project's implementation, not for the regularization of faculty.

The main assignment was under the Education Ministry, which signed an agreement with Bihar, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and other countries. The notion was about engaging all the graduates from higher education universities all over India as faculty members for improving their quality of education in the provided UT or States. The graduates of NIT and IIT were then appointed in the rural colleges as faculty. The primary advertisement was all about recruitment which is the project best. The Central Government sometimes asks for participation in the UT or the states for preparing a plan of sustainability for all the faculty members. To retain longer, they try to ensure that talent is internally utilized. An email was sent to the Education Minister about the recruiter’s future which was not any properly seated reply until releasing the report.

Passing Through Extreme Mental Pressure

This month, the recruits participating in TEQIP-III released a joint statement to the media, sharing their concerns. So students go through high mental pressure or stress. The venture expires on March 31, 2021 (originally September 2020, where they were granted a half-month extension, and now March 31, 2021, and there have been no attempt to maintain or accommodate them from either side. As a consequence, they are on the threshold of becoming uninsured until March 31. As they are all from IITs & NITs, they have enhanced the quality of education of south Villages and have eligible GATE tests, and that was a requirement for recruitment as a TEQIP instructor. Many were looking to follow their post-graduation in technology and recruit to such PSUs taking GATE or the Graduate Ability Tests in Engineering.

After all the complete examinations and tests, this problem has arrived. In four years, all fully skilled faculties have increased rural India's engineering degree, but they are on the verge of losing their profession. After investing these years in these colleges, where will they go? It is a big question mark on their career, which any party or media has not focused upon. They are under immense mental tension because the National Government and the state governments have often assured the maintenance and continuity of facilities. After this month's TEQIP-III Committee Meeting, it is proposed that the Government maintain the staying of the staff past the time limit, in particular concerning the Covid disease outbreak.