MUMBAI, July 8 -- The state government has taken a major step to strengthen higher education by giving the go-ahead for recruitment to over 7,900 teaching posts and more than 2,200 non-teaching posts across public universities and aided private colleges. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has principally approved the long-pending recruitment drive, which was last initiated in 2022 but got stuck due to technical glitches. At a high-level review meeting held at Vidhan Bhavan on Monday, Fadnavis expressed strong support for completing the recruitment process without further delay. "Filling vacant posts in public universities and aided colleges is crucial for implementing the National Education Policy (NEP) and improving the overall quality of higher education," he said. One of the key decisions taken at the meeting was the approval of 100% recruitment in state-aided engineering institutions, including VJTI college in Mumbai and Shri Guru Gobind Singhji Engineering College in Nanded. Additionally, 788 teaching posts and 2,242 non-teaching posts were cleared for recruitment across state universities, while 5,012 posts of assistant professors in aided private colleges under the directorate of higher education will also be filled. The meeting was attended by higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil, additional chief secretary Venu Gopal Reddy, finance department ACS O P Gupta, planning department ACS Rajgopal Deora, and university heads, including Dr Atul Vaidya, vice-chancellor of Lakshminarayan Innovation Technology University. Fadnavis also emphasised the need to strengthen technological universities in the state, noting that their numbers were limited. "Universities must run at full capacity to maintain academic excellence and increase opportunities for students," he said. The chief minister further directed that 105 teaching posts and one equivalent academic post be approved at Lakshminarayan Innovation Technology University. The university will also receive Rs.8 crore annually for administrative and daily operations. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University has also received approval for a revised staffing structure of 603 posts. In a move to improve library infrastructure, Fadnavis approved a 40% increase in library grants, with instructions to send the proposal immediately to the finance department. He also gave in-principle approval for upgrading the classification of libraries (A, B, C, D) and sanctioned proposals for new libraries to replace the 1,706 derecognised ones. Libraries completing 50, 75, and 100 years will receive special incentive grants....