In a significant move to revitalise its academic workforce, Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) in Rohtak has broken a nearly ten-year hiatus by announcing a massive recruitment drive for teaching staff. The university has advertised a total of 143 faculty positions across various ranks and disciplines, marking a crucial step towards strengthening its educational foundation.
A Broad-Based Recruitment Drive
The advertised vacancies encompass professors, associate professors, and assistant professors, spread across 34 different teaching departments of the university. This wide-ranging effort is designed to tackle the long-pending shortage of permanent faculty members that has persisted for almost a decade. The recruitment process has been structured to adhere strictly to the regulations of the Haryana state government, including its comprehensive reservation policy.
The vacancies account for multiple categories to ensure inclusive hiring. These include Unreserved (UR), Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Other Scheduled Castes (OSC), Deprived Scheduled Castes (DSC), Backward Classes A and B (BCA & BCB), Ex-Servicemen (ESM), Ex-Servicemen from Scheduled Castes (ESMSC), and Persons with Disabilities (PwD). A notable part of this recruitment cycle is the inclusion of backlog positions that have remained unfilled for an extended period.
Historic Step for Representation
In a historic first for MDU, the university has earmarked backlog vacancies for reserved categories even at the senior direct post levels of professor and associate professor. This move is seen as a pivotal step in correcting long-standing gaps in representation within the university's senior academic leadership. University authorities have emphasised that this recruitment aims to fill a major portion of the vacancies, estimated at around 60%, which belong to backlog positions in reserved categories, thereby fully implementing the government's reservation guidelines.
For stakeholders, including students and existing faculty, this development arrives as a new ray of hope after a long wait. The infusion of new, regular faculty is expected to significantly enhance teaching capacity, improve mentorship for students, and provide much-needed academic support across departments.
Swift Timeline for Appointments
The university has set an ambitious timeline to complete this process swiftly. Interviews for the senior positions—11 posts of professor and 21 of associate professor—are scheduled to commence in the first week of January 2026. Simultaneously, the screening process for the 111 assistant professor posts is already in full swing.
Committees formed for the recruitment have been instructed to wrap up their work within one week of starting the interviews. This directive underscores the administration's objective to finalise all appointments by early 2026. The expedited process reflects the urgency and importance MDU places on resolving its faculty shortage and building a robust academic environment for the future.
