IC lecturers paid crores despite course being shut since 2021 at Palanpur Polytechnic

A glaring case of administrative mismanagement has surfaced in technical education in Gujarat. At the Government Diploma Engineering College (Polytechnic) in Palanpur, the Instrumentation and Control (IC) branch has remained shut since the academic year 2020–21, yet lecturers from the department continue to draw salaries at the college.

Despite the course being discontinued due to lack of admissions, six IC lecturers have been retained at the institute. Over the past five-and-a-half years, more than ₹5 crore has been paid as salary to these lecturers, even though the department has had no students or academic workload.

College authorities have repeatedly written to the state Technical Education Department, seeking transfers or deputation of the lecturers to colleges where the IC branch is active. However, no decision has been taken so far.

The lecturers currently draw monthly salaries ranging from ₹1.16 lakh to ₹2.17 lakh. Meanwhile, several government engineering colleges across the state are facing an acute shortage of faculty following branch and seat restructuring carried out in 2022, adversely affecting students’ education.

Despite repeated representations by lecturers and principals, the government has neither transferred surplus staff nor initiated fresh recruitment, raising serious questions about governance in the technical education sector.