Alleged irregularities in appointments to teaching posts are likely to figure in the discussions at the meeting of the University of Kerala Syndicate on Wednesday.
The selection process for a recent appointment made to the Department of Education has come under the scanner with one of the candidates approaching the Kerala High Court, alleging “grave errors” in the awarding of marks to the applicant who was eventually appointed. The petitioner alleged that the selection committee, chaired by the Vice Chancellor, awarded marks to the appointee for qualifications and experience that had not been claimed.
She claimed that among the alleged anomalies, an additional mark had been provided in the selection score for ‘additional postgraduate degree’, even while the applicant purportedly held only the required mandatory PG degree as per the eligibility criteria. Similarly, the appointee was assigned marks under the head ‘national award’, while none was claimed. It was also alleged that concerted efforts had been made by those concerned to facilitate the selection, thereby denying the opportunity to other deserving candidates.
Communal rotation
Another issue that could be taken up for discussion is the alleged anomalies in the decision to enforce category-wise pooling of posts for applying communal rotation under provisions of the Kerala State and Subordinate Services Rules, 1958. According to a recent notification, the vacancies of teaching posts shall be pooled under the categories of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor. The identification of reserved posts will be based on the pooling system.
