Days after it asked the Uttarakhand Public Service Commission to make amendments in some shortcomings in the recruitment advertisement for 877 posts of Assistant Professors in Government Colleges and extend the last date of applying for these posts by three weeks, the State administration appears to have made a turnaround on the issue now.
This has ensured that the Public Service Commission need not make any amendments and would not give any relaxation in upper age limit to the candidates. Hopes of thousands of aspirants who have surpassed the upper age limit of 42 years mentioned in the advertisement, have been dashed by this sudden and unexplained change in the view of the State administration.
Incidentally, as per the norms of the University Grants Commission (UGC) there is no upper age limit for the faculty positions in the university and colleges.
On the complaints of discrepancy in the advertisement the Additional Chief Secretary, Dr Ranvir Singh in a letter dated August 23 asked the secretary Public Service Commission Uttarakhand to extend the last date of the submission of application forms for the posts of Assistant Professor by three weeks.
Similarly, on July 12 the ACS had directed the Director Higher Education Department that the upper age limit for teaching posts in the colleges should be fixed again.
Interestingly, the recruitment advertisement of the State public service commission released on August 4, 2017 (after the GO for age relaxation) gave no consideration to the GO of age relaxation as it had an upper age limit of 42 years. It prompted a demand by the many candidates that the public service commission should re-advertise these posts with relaxation in upper age limit. Their stand was vindicated when ACS wrote a letter to the commission to extend the last date of the application but the State administration’s decision to back off now has put them in quandary.
When contacted over phone the ACS, Ranvir Singh said that the age relaxation would be given only in the contractual appointments and not in the permanent appointments so there is no need for the public service commission to make changes in the advertisement.
Senior BJP leader Ravindra Jugaran said that education is a concurrent subject between the State and Central Government and many State Governments have an upper age limit of 45 or 48 years in permanent appointments in the colleges. He expressed surprise that the State administration has changed its mind within days of issuing a GO asking the commission to incorporate changes in the advertisement and give a relaxation of three weeks in the last date.
On the requisition of the higher education department, the State public service commission recently released the recruitment advertisement for filling 877 posts of assistant professors in 31 subjects.