CHENNAI: The State government should take steps to fill vacant principal and assistant professor posts in government arts and science colleges, as students from poor and middle-class families are affected by these posts remaining vacant, said PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss.

In a statement, Anbumani said that principal posts in more than 60 colleges have been vacant for over a year. "As of June end, the vacancies have increased to 96. Appointing principals is not a difficult task, as principals are appointed on seniority basis. Moreover, seniority lists are already in place," he added.

Pointing out that of around 10,500 assistant professor posts, more than 9,000 were lying vacant in the colleges, Anbumani added that the colleges were depending upon guest lecturers to conduct classes.

"If there are no principals along with the assistant professors, there will be only buildings; no education. The Dravidian Model government, which runs on publicity, does not know this fundamental truth. Since the day of coming to power, the government has been promising to appoint 4,000 assistant professors. But, the government lacks responsibility," he charged.

He further stated that not a single assistant professor was appointed during the last four years and no principal post was filled during the last two years. "The DMK government should not dig grave to the higher education instead of improving the quality, " he urged.