New Delhi: Close on the heels of the opposition to a Muslim lecturer teaching Sanskrit at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) comes the Centre’s data on the absence of Sanskrit teachers in various institutions across the country.Human resource development minister Ramesh Pokriyal ‘Nishank’ told the Lok Sabha in a written reply this past November 25 that there are as many as 709 vacant posts of Sanskrit lectures in various states.Though the minister didn’t give state-wise break up of the vacant posts, he said UP has the largest number of UGC-recognised Sankskrit mahavidyalayas with 468.The minister said the UGC, since June, has sent letters to the state governments to fill up the posts within six months. He, though, didn’t give the details of the responses, if any, of these states to the UGC’s reminders.In total, 760 Sanskrit mahavidyalayas are affiliated to the UGC. Aside from UP, the minister, in his reply to the question by MPs Kanakmal Katara and Ramcharan Bohra, said while Odisha has 59 such mahavidyalas, Rajasthan has 57.In Bihar, Gujarat and Uttarakhand, there are 35, 34 and 31 Sanskrit mahavidyalayas recognised by the UGC. While Madhya Pradesh has 19 such colleges, Himachal Pradesh has 18.Note: An earlier version of this story said UP had 468 vacant posts of Sanskrit lecturers. The Centre hasn’t given the state-wise break-up of vacancies. The story has been updated with the correct figure of all India vacancies.