The alleged laxity on the part of the government in completing the mandatory official procedures has thwarted a bid to infuse professionalism and transparency in the selection and recruitment of non-teaching staff in all universities in the State.
The previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had decided to entrust the Public Service Commission (PSC) with the recruitment of university non-teaching staff and had issued an order too, but could not complete the formalities before the end of its tenure.
The United Democratic Front (UDF) government, on assuming office, decided to maintain status quo till the completion of the mandatory procedures.
The government allegedly chose to ignore a volley of complaints about the selection system in vogue in the universities and allowed them to retain the authority for recruitment. But the Kerala Veterinary and Allied Sciences (KVASU) turned out to be an exception and had made a provision for entrusting the recruitment with the commission in its bylaw.
Framing rules
Commission sources told The Hindu here that in line with the Government Order, each university was bound to frame rules regarding reservation for different sections and communities, service conditions and such other matters. Each university Syndicate should pass a resolution to hand over the authority to the commission. The government would then frame the draft special rules regarding the qualification, age, eligibility and other norms for each post in consultation with the universities. The draft special rules will be forwarded to the commission and implemented with its clearance.
Instead of prompting the universities to frame the rules and make the Syndicates adopt the resolution, the government issued the order to maintain status quo on the premise that recruitment of administrative staff would be affected. Even in the face of a series of allegations and cases about the recruitment of assistants in Kerala University, the government did not take any action. No attempt was made to review the decision. Of late, the appointment of assistants in Calicut University too had triggered a row.
