Guwahati, Mar 30 (IANS): The Assam government informed the Assembly on Thursday that a central hiring board will be established to recruit teachers in colleges across the state.

Accordingly, college authorities have been asked not to initiate any new hiring process on their own.

State Education Minister Ranoj Pegu said a large number of pending court cases related to the recruitment of teachers has forced the government to take this decision.

"We have now decided to forego any further academics-based hiring by colleges. This approach causes a lot of legal disputes," he said.

Replying to a question raised by AIUDF MLA Ashraful Hussain, Pegu said, "The education department has been facing at least 2,500 court cases related to the recruitment of teachers in schools and colleges."

The minister said a total of 640 teaching posts in colleges are lying vacant across the state.

"We have chosen to build a centralised recruitment board. After passing the selection test, a candidate will be posted to the college of his/her choice," Pegu added.

However, the colleges which have already initiated the recruitment process have been allowed to complete it.