With concerns growing over thousands of seats remaining vacant in engineering, medical and other higher education institutions in Karnataka, the state government is preparing to conduct counselling for 222 newly-appointed principals of Government First Grade Colleges. The Department of Collegiate Education is expected to complete the counselling process within a week, following which candidates will receive placement orders, depending on their seniority.
The appointment is a step ahead in a recruitment process that was pending since 2022. The state government had initially issued a notification for 310 principal posts, of which 222 candidates have now received appointment orders after completing document verification. The remaining applications are being processed.
The development comes as Karnataka continues to grapple with vacant seats across several professional courses. According to the Karnataka Examinations Authority, 24 and 283 engineering seats remained unallotted after the third and final round of UGCET counselling in September 2026.
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The number of unfilled engineering and architecture seats has increased compared with 2025, when approximately 15,400 seats remained vacant.
Other programmes have also reported substantial vacancies. More than 22,800 nursing seats and 2,465 seats in allied health sciences remained unallotted after the relevant counselling round.
Medical admissions have faced similar challenges. Despite multiple counselling rounds, 47 MBBS seats remained vacant as of November 11, prompting KEA to announce an extended special stray vacancy round. The authority scheduled another allotment exercise for November 13 to fill the remaining seats.
While the vacant seats raise questions about admission demand and the affordability of professional education, the appointment of principals represents a separate administrative development concerning government degree colleges.
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Meanwhile, Higher education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddy said the appointments were completed after resolving legal hurdles that had delayed the recruitment process and added that the selection process was performed in a transparent manner.
According to the Higher Education Department's appointment order, the selected principals will serve for a five-year period. Their tenure could be extended by another five years, depending on a performance assessment, which will be conducted by a committee constituted by the state government.
Professors and associate professors previously employed at government degree colleges will be permitted to return to their original positions after completing their tenure as principals.
However, candidates appointed from private and aided colleges, universities and other institutions will not be eligible to continue as professors or associate professors in government degree colleges after their tenure ends.
Moreover, the government has outlined pension conditions for appointees. Candidates from aided colleges and public universities appointed after April 1, 2006, will come under the New Pension Scheme and will not qualify for benefits under the Defined Benefit Pension Scheme or Triple Benefit Scheme.
All selected candidates will need to report to their allotted colleges within 15 days of counselling and after receiving their placement orders. Failure to join within the stipulated period will result in cancellation of appointment.
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