Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government informed the Madras High Court on Tuesday that steps are being taken to address the shortage of teaching staff in government law colleges across the state.

During a hearing of a petition concerning faculty vacancies, Advocate General (AG) PS Raman assured Justice Battu Devanand that the process to recruit new teaching staff is underway.

The AG stated that communication has been sent to the Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) to initiate recruitment, and that the board has requested clarifications, which are expected to be provided by Wednesday. Once the explanations are submitted, the recruitment notification will be issued.

Following this submission, the court scheduled the next hearing for October 21.

Previously, the judge expressed concern over the inadequate number of teaching staff in government law colleges and had summoned the law secretary to appear in court. In response, the law secretary attended the session on Wednesday.

The court noted the critical shortage, with 19 out of 20 sanctioned associate professor posts vacant, while nine associate professors are working in upgraded positions.

Additionally, 70 out of 206 assistant professor posts remain unfilled. The judge emphasized that if the government fails to resolve the staffing issue, it may be better to close the colleges.