The University Grants Commission (UGC) has created an academic job portal on its website for universities to upload vacancies.
According to UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain, the portal will enable universities to post job vacancies, and the eligible candidates to find jobs. A similar attempt was made in 2012 but nothing came of it, say teachers’ associations.
Teachers and former Vice-Chancellors welcomed it, but they point out that it could at best serve only as a guideline as the UGC has not been able to implement it even at Central universities.
Former Anna University Vice-Chancellor E. Balagurusamy said the UGC had the authority to maintain quality in higher education. “They may request the higher education institutions to upload faculty details... It may also include vacant positions. There is nothing wrong and it is not against any State rights. The Commission cannot interfere in the day-to-day administration,” he said.
M.K. Surappa, who recently demitted office as Anna University Vice-Chancellor, said only vacancies that had been advertised for by the universities could be uploaded. “When a post is advertised for against a vacancy, it can be uploaded on the portal. We have 600 vacancies at Anna University. How can we upload all of them without the approval of the State government?” he wondered. Besides, universities are autonomous bodies and only certain amount of information is of relevance to the public, he opined.
One of the reasons for Anna University’s poor ranking in the latest QS World University Rankings was the unfilled faculty positions, he said. “We got the lowest marks, just five, for faculty-student ratio. Even if it had been 15, we would have been ranked higher,” he said.
Former Madras University Vice-Chancellor P. Duraisamy said, “The UGC circular is a guideline for wider circulation and attracting the best talents in the country. It may be mandatory for Central universities but not for State universities.”
College teachers speculated that it could undermine the State’s rights. K. Pandiyan a retired professor of National College, Tiruchi, and member of the Association of University Teachers (AUT), said the UGC had launched the portal in 2012 asking candidates with NET, SET and Ph.D. to upload their credentials.
The Association of University Teachers (AUT) welcomed the initiative. “AUT urges the UGC to ensure proper implementation of reservation in teaching positions in these educational institutions,” general secretary M.S. Bala Murugan said.
So far, 54,692 candidates with NET; 14,114 candidates with NET-JRF; 15,257 candidates with SET; and 26,788 candidates with Ph.D. have registered. On the same page, the column for the latest jobs posted says, “No latest posted jobs!!!”
