A group of academics have alleged that the interview for the posts of assistant professors in the department of economics at Calicut University’s Dr. John Mathai Centre at Thrissur, held recently, was flawed.
In a letter to Syndicate members, the 20 academics, who applied for the posts, claimed that the subject expert panel was constituted by faculty members from various universities in Kerala whose academic credentials were not better than many of the participants of the interview. The panel lacked scientific rigour, and it did not have experts on economics from eminent institutions in the State such as the Centre for Development Studies, and the Gulati Institute for Finance and Taxation, Thiruvananthapuram, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode, and the Indian Institute of Technology, Palakkad. The interview was held on January 21, 22, and 23.
The letter claimed that one of the participants had completed her PhD dissertation under the supervision of a senior academic, who was a subject expert on the interview board. This was a clear sign of nepotism. Also, some panel members were fixated on bookish questions while making fun of most candidates and harassing them.
It was also alleged that the subject expert panel hardly asked any questions about the research capabilities of the candidates, their publications, or their research projects or teaching experience, which are essential as per University Grants Commission guidelines. Besides, the current head of the department of economics is an assistant professor, but participated in the interview to choose assistant professors. This is a violation of norms, the academics alleged.
