Alleging large-scale irregularities in appointment of faculty members and in other spheres in Doon University, the members of Doon University Sanyukt Chatra Sangharsh Samiti (DUSCSS) have demanded a high level judicial probe to investigate these irregularities.
The students have also demanded removal of Vice Chancellor (VC) VK Jain so that he is not able to influence the inquiry. Hurling a plethora of allegations on the University officials, the DUSCSS organised a press conference hereon Tuesday.
The President of Students Union of HNB Garhwal Central University, Bhupendra Singh Negi said that University in scant regards of norms called only two candidates for as many posts of assistant Professors on May 31 this year and when the matter came into the notice of students they protested and these interviews were cancelled.
He claimed that on the objection of students, VC Jain had owned responsibility for the authenticity of those called for the interviews. “On the insistence of the students the documents of the applicants was checked and the allegation of students was found true and the interviews were cancelled,’’ Negi said.
He went on to add that the only Professor of the University, Kusum Arunachalam’s appointment is also under cloud as she has claimed to be a domicile of Uttarakhand while applying for the post. The University too has accepted that her domicile is suspicious.
Giving another incident of corruption, the students said that appointment of Rajesh Kumar on the post of Associate Professor in the year was also done in gross violation of norms of University Grants Commission (UGC).
They alleged that the grade pay of Rajesh Kumar was less than Assistant Professor when he was invited for the interview similarly he did not had requisite 10 years of experience for the post. Similarly in the appointment of Assistant Professor Sikha Ahmad in Department of Economics, the process of merit was tempered with as she scored least marks in Academic Performance Indicator (API).
Armed with Right to Information (RTI) revelations the DUSCSS also alleged irregularities in the promotions in faculty positions. Negi said that the grade pay of Archana Sharma of school of environmental sciences and natural studies was increased despite of the fact that she didn’t had the minimum API score needed for promotion.
The students alleged similar irregularities in the promotion of Vijay Sridhar of same department. The students claimed that both Shridhar and Sharma are close to VC due to which undue favours were showered on them. The DUSCSS also alleged favoritism in appointment and salary of faculty appointed on contract.
The students said that most of the teachers of the university do not confer to the norms of the UGC and only 27 out of 51 teachers of the university hold PhD qualification which is against the idea of ‘Centre of Excellence’ on which the university was established. The students said that the fee of different course in the University is kept too high and democratic rights of the students are being trampled with. The DUSCSS also alleged financial irregularities in the University and demanded high level inquiry.
The press conference was attended SFI leader Devendra Singh Rawal, former President of DAV student union Paras Goyal and University students Priyanka, Mohit, Kokil and others.