The Teachers Recruitment Board has shown undue haste in appointing assistant professors despite repeated complaints that it had not followed the University Grants Commission norms, say aggrieved lecturers.
At a press conference here, the NET/SLET Association claimed that the TRB had violated the UGC recommendations that only those who qualify the eligibility tests and those who had received Ph.D degrees according on the Commission’s 2009 norms should be recruited.
Earlier norms followed
“The TRB had instead used the earlier UGC norm that all Ph.D candidates can apply. The Board’s list of selected candidates is against Supreme Court ruling and the UGC norms. We want the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission to conduct an entrance test to select candidates for the TRB interview,” said R. Thanga Muniyandi, the association’s joint secretary.
According to the members, the TRB’s action had denied fair opportunity to 50,000 candidates who had cleared the national and State-level eligibility tests.
While universities were yet to implement the UGC norms, the members said that only Anna University in its provisional certificate for Ph.D candidates specified that the degree was awarded in accordance with the 2009 regulations.
“The pass percentage for NET when it was launched in 1994 was four per cent and is now 12 per cent. But anyone can get a Ph.D degree. Only 0.4 per cent of the Ph.D theses submitted are rejected. Even these candidates can resubmit their thesis.
It was for this reason that NET and SLET scores were considered for appointment. We plan to move the High Court as the TRB’s move is clearly a contempt of court,” said S. Swaminthan, advisor to the association.
