More than 90% of sanctioned posts are vacant across Karnataka’s tribal residential schools and student hostels, leaving the institutions dependent on outsourced staff, Tribal Welfare Minister T. Raghumurthy told the Legislative Assembly on September 7.
The minister was responding to a starred question raised by H.D. Kote Congress MLA Anil Chikkamadu. The Tribal Welfare Department operates 119 Maharshi Valmiki tribal residential schools and 304 student hostels, including 135 pre-matric and 169 post-matric facilities, for children from Scheduled Tribe and indigenous communities living in rural and forest-fringe areas.
Of the 1,350 posts sanctioned for the ashram schools, 1,255 are vacant. The department has engaged 1,228 outsourced personnel at the schools. In the hostels, 1,186 of 1,420 sanctioned posts are vacant, while 1,032 outsourced staff members are working.
The vacancies cover teaching, residential care, food services, security and maintenance. At the ashram schools, all sanctioned posts for six principals, 18 language teachers, 36 assistant teachers, one senior warden, five each of first-division assistants, hostel wardens, staff nurses and Group D employees, as well as 119 caretakers, 253 kitchen assistants, six security guards and 10 sanitation workers are vacant, according to the minister’s reply.
Of the 500 sanctioned teacher posts, only 65 are occupied through permanent, daily-wage or deputation arrangements, leaving 435 vacant. Among 381 sanctioned cooking staff posts, only 30 are filled. The figures include staff working through different appointment arrangements rather than only regular employees.
The hostels also have substantial vacancies. Of 304 sanctioned hostel superintendent posts, 150 are filled through permanent, daily-wage or deputation arrangements. Only 65 of 559 cook posts, 17 of 424 kitchen assistant posts and two of 133 security guard posts are filled.
The residential schools and hostels provide free accommodation and food to enrolled students. The government also supplies textbooks, notebooks, writing materials, school bags, uniforms, footwear, blankets and bedding each year. Caretaker posts, including positions for women caretakers, have been sanctioned to supervise and care for the students.
The minister said the government has allocated ₹216.02 crore for the administrative infrastructure and annual maintenance of the ashram schools and hostels during 2026–27. Of this amount, ₹58.59 crore is earmarked for the maintenance of ashram schools.
The department also plans to introduce ‘E-Guruthu’, an artificial-intelligence-based software developed by the Centre for Smart Governance, to record student attendance accurately and automatically at both types of institutions. Hostel activities are expected to be managed through the ‘Nilaya’ software, according to the minister’s statement in the Assembly.
