Over 800 out of the total 1,748 teachers' posts are lying vacant in Sanskrit universities and institutions funded by central and state governments, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' told Lok Sabha on Monday.

He said the government has launched a special drive to fill up vacancies and is currently engaging guest lecturers and part-time faculty to meet the shortage.

Replying to a question, he said there are about 120 universities which offer Sanskrit as a subject or language while there are 15 Sanskrit universities, with three of them being deemed ones fully funded by central governments.

There are 1000 traditional Sanskrit colleges affiliates to these universities with about 10 lakh students, he said.