The recent verdict of the Orissa High Court quashing the advertisement of the Ravenshaw University for 140 posts has also brought into focus other glaring irregularities in appointments and recruitment in higher education in Odisha.
The UGC Regulations, 2010 stipulate that only postgraduates with 55 per cent marks with NET or PhD as per UGC (Minimum Norms and Standards for Award of PhD) Regulations, 2009 are eligible for appointment as lecturer/ Assistant Professor in universities and colleges. All State Governments and State universities have adopted and incorporated these regulations in their respective recruitment rules except the Odisha Government.
The Odisha Department of Higher Education has persistently been defying the UGC Regulations, 2010 in its various policies and measures. The department placed 456 Junior lecturers who had completed 10 years of service in Junior Colleges as lecturers in Degree Colleges without taking into consideration the requirement of NET or PhD (2009).
Further, although the law provided for only 50 per cent vacancies to be filled by such placement, in practice more than that were filled up by placement of such Junior lecturers.
In some disciplines like Education, Economics, English, Home Science and History, more than 100 per cent of the required vacancies were filled up by such placement. As a result, posts in these disciplines were not advertised for direct recruitment, which has caused great injustice to NET and PhD (2009) scholars in these disciplines.
Similarly, the Higher Education Department relaxed the requirement of PhD adhering to the UGC (Minimum Norms and Standards for Award of PhD) Regulations, 2009 for exemption from NET for the recruitment of 352 posts in Degree Colleges. Junior lecturers in subjects like Indian Music have been placed as lecturer in UGC scale despite the fact that Indian Music doesn’t exist as a subject in Degree Colleges.
Further, despite the fact that the eligibility for Junior lecturers in Education is 2-year MA in Education, Junior lecturers with 1-year MEd degree have been placed as lecturers in UGC scale of pay.
Although the UGC has issued regulations that the eligibility criteria for ad-hoc and contractual teachers would be the same as regular teachers, the Higher Education Department has appointed ad-hoc and contractual teachers with MPhil without NET and PhD (2009).
Similarly, for the recruitment of 1,625 lecturers in private colleges, the State Selection Board (SSB) has dispensed with any requirement of NET or PhD (2009). Also, the personnel selected by the SSB would have the same qualifications and pay as Junior lecturers in Government Junior Colleges but would be allowed to teach at both +2 and +3 levels.
Whereas the department has provided for a rigorous method of selection for Junior lecturers with a written examination followed by viva, it is selecting lecturers in Degree Colleges almost solely on the basis of career marks similar to the selection of Group-D personnel despite the fact that lecturers in Degree Colleges belong to Group-A and get UGC scale with Academic Grade pay considerably higher than that of Group-A Central and State services such as IAS and OAS.